Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/classichistoricpOObrucrich 


CLASSIC 


AND 


HISTORIC  PORTRAITS 


BY 

JAMES  BRUCE 
W 


RE  DFIE  LD  , 

110    AND    U2    NASSAU    STREET,    NEW    YORK 
1  854. 


CT/o* 
^3 


8  fjLvtutz 


PREFACE 


I  believe  that  there  are  not  many  persons  who 
read  biography  with  interest,  who  have  not  felt  a 
desire  for  a  more  intimate  personal  acquaintance, 
as  it  may  be  called,  than  is  usually  afforded  them 
with  those  men  and  women  whose  virtues  and  vices 
joined  with  their  natural  gifts  and  acquired  accom- 
plishments, made  them  either  illustrious  or  infamous 
in  their  own  days,  and  still  influence  the  world  at  the 
distance  of  centuries  after  their  death.  Those  works 
in  which -the  narrative  of  great  public  affairs  is  mixed 
up  with  the  more  minute  private  and  personal  details 
and  descriptions,  which  pedants  and  philosophers 
consider  to  be  below  what  they  call  "  the  dignity  of 
history,"  are,  I  believe,  in  spite  of  learned  reprehen- 
sion, read  with  more  pleasure  than  the  more  pretend- 
ing volumes  in  which  this  disagreeable  "  dignity  of 
history"  is  stiffly  and  proudly  sustained.  When  the 
Roman  historian  deprecates  the  censure  of  those  grave 
and  surly  readers  who,   as  he  anticipates,    will  charge 

869024 ■ 


IV  P  R  E  F  A  C  E  . 

him  with  trifling  for  telling  them  who  it  was  that  gave 
lessons  in  music  to  Epaminondas,  and  for  informing 
them  that  the  Theban  General  danced  excellently  and 
played  learnedly  on  the  pipe,  I  believe  that  all  readers 
possessed  of  an  enlightened  curiosity,  will  not  only 
heartily  accept  his  apology,  but  thank  him  for  what  he 
has  told,  and  regret  that  he  has  not  given  us  a  great 
deal  more  of  the  same  kind  of  information. 

In  many  cases,  this  natural  curiosity  to  know  as  much 
as  possible  of  the  appearance  and  manners  of  remark- 
able persons  is  heightened  by  the  consideration  that 
these  personal  matters  influenced  the  destinies  of 
nations  and  of  the  world.  The  history  of  the  Roman 
empire  might  now  exhibit  a  wholly  different  aspect 
from  what  it  does  if,  at  an  intensely  critical  period  the 
royal  diadem  of  Egypt  had  not  been  placed  on  the 
brows  of  a  woman  of  the  most  marvellous  accomplish- 
ments, and  possessed  of  the  most  inexhaustible  arts  of 
pleasing,  persuading  and  seducing  ;  a  sorceress  whose 
chain 

"  Around  two  conquerors  of  the  world  was  cast, 
But  for  a  third  too  feeble  broke  at  last." 

And  as  Octavius  might  have  lost  the  empire  of  civilized 
Europe,  if  the  voice  and  tongue  of  Cleopatra  had  been 
less  sweet  and  persuasive  than  they  were,  so  the  Refor- 
mation of  religion  in  England  might  have  been  delayed 
for  many  a  year — though  it  could  not  have  been  averted 
— had  not,  as  the  poet  tells  us, 

"  The  Gospel  light  first  beamed  from  Bullen's  eyes." 


PREFACE.  V 

The  description  of  the  personal  appearance,  the  dress, 
the  private  habits  and  tastes  of  some  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished persons  whose  names  figure  on  the  page  of 
history,  as  collected  from  every  source  available  to  me, 
and  separated  as  far  as  possible  from  the  often-told  his- 
tories of  their  lives,  and  interspersed  but  sparingly,  and 
where  the  temptation  was  irresistible,  with  criticism  on 
their  moral  and  intellectual  characters — is  the  design 
which  I  have  had  before  me  in  compiling  these  volumes. 
It  would  be  a  fatal  error  in  a  work  of  this  kind,  if  the 
writer  were  to  give  his  readers  minute  personal  sketches 
of   any  persons    but   those   whose   names   are   famous 
enough  to  be   familiar  to  all  but  the  entirely  illiterate. 
The  Abbate  Lanzi,  in  his  History  of  Painting,  justly 
reproves  Vassara  and  others  of  his  predecessors  for  giv- 
ing  their   readers  full  details    about   the   persons  and 
habits  of  the  inferior  class  of  painters,   but   admits  that 
all  the  information  of  this  kind  which  can  be  collected 
about  Raflfaelle  or  the  Carracci,  or  the  other  great  mas- 
ters of  the  art,    is   highly  valuable.     Montaigne,  who 
has  not  left  the  world  in  ignorance  of  his  own  private 
life,  in  expressing  his  regret  at  the  loss  of  the  diaries 
kept  by  Alexander,  Augustus,  Cato,  Sylla  and  Brutus, 
says  :   "  Of  such  men  we  love  and  study  the  portraits 
even  in  copper  and  in  stone."     The  genius  of  the  statu- 
ary and  the  painter  is  unquestionably  indebted  for  much 
of   the   admiration    which   it   receives,    to   this    natural 
desire  to  look  on  the  likenesses  of  the  great  men  who 
have  long  left  this  world. 

In  speaking  of  some  of  the  personages  referred  to,  I 


VI  PREFACE. 

have  been  led  necessarily  to  discuss  the  ideas  of  beauty 
which  have  prevailed  in  different  ages  and  countries  ; 
and  occasional  references  to  painting  and  the  kindred 
arts  have  also  been  here  and  there,  I  hope  not  inappro- 
priately, introduced. 

I  have  found  a  difficulty  in  fixing  on  a  title  for  these 
volumes,  and  the  one  which  I  have  adopted  is,  I  con- 
fess, not  so  clearly  explanatory  of  their  contents  as  I 
could  have  wished. 


MAY,  1853. 


CONTENTS 


Sappho, 

JEsop, 

Pythagoras,  .  • 

ASPASIA,    . 

MlLTO,  .  • 

Agesilaus, 

Socrates,    . 

Plato, 

Alcibiades,   . 

Helen  of  Troy, 

Alexander  the  Great, 

Demetrius  Poliorcetes, 

Scipio  Africanus,    . 

Sylla,     . 

Cleopatra,    . 

Julius  Caesar,    . 

Augustus, 

Tiberius, 

Germanises, 

Caligula, 

Lollia  Paulina, 

Cesonia, 

boadicea, 


•  •        • 

•  •        • 

I 

•        •        •        • 

•  •        • 


PAGE. 

1 

9 

15 

26 

28 

32 

35 

39 

43 

52 

56 

66 

75 

76 

78 

90 

97 

104 

106 

109 

111 

115 

118 


Vlll 


CONTENTS 


Nero, 
Agrippina, 

PoPPiEA   SaBINA, 

Otho, 

CoMMODUS,      . 

Caracalla, 

Heliogabalus, 

Zenobia,  .         ,    . 

Julian  the  Apostate, 

Eudocia, 

Theodora,     . 

Charlemagne,    . 

Abelard  and  Heloise, 

Elizabeth  of  Hungary, 

Dante, 

Robert  Bruce,  . 

Inez  de  Castro, 

Agnes  Sorel,     . 

Jane  Shore, 

Lucrezia  Borgia, 

Anne  Bullen, 

Diana  of  Poitiers, 

Catharine  de'  Medici, 

Queen  Elizabeth, 

Mary  Queen  of  Scots, 

Cervantes, 

Sir  Kenelm  Digby, 

John  Sobieski,    . 

Anne  of  Austria, 

Ninon  de  L'Enclos, 

Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier 

The  Duchess  of  Orleans, 

Madame  de  Maintenon, 

Catharine  of  Russia,  . 

Madame  de  Stael,  . 


PERSONAL  CHARACTERISTICS, 


SAPPHO 


Of  one  of  the  most  celebrated  women  of  antiquity,  the 
poetess  Sappho,  living  about  six  centuries  before  the  Chris- 
tian era,  we  have  a  personal  description  handed  down,  in  all 
probability,  from  her  own  time,  if  not  indeed  through  writ- 
ings of  her  own,  now  lost.  This  description  is  familiar  to 
most  readers  from  the  epistle  which  Ovid,  in  the  name  of 
Sappho,  has  inscribed  to  Phaon,  the  object  of  her  unre- 
quited and  fatal  love.  In  this  epistle,  Sappho  is  made  to 
tell  us  that  nature  had  denied  her  beauty  but  had  gifted  her 
with  genius  ;  that  her  fame  was  sung  throughout  the  whole 
world,  and  that  her  countryman  Alcseus,  though  his  was  a 
loftier  strain,  was  not  more  celebrated  than  she  was.  She 
tells  Phaon  that  she  is  of  short  stature  and  of  a  dark  com- 
plexion ;  but  she  reminds  him  that  Andromeda  (whom  Gre- 
cian fable  makes  the  daughter  of  a  king  of  Ethiopia,)  with 
the  tawny  color  of  her  country,  had  pleased  the  heroic 
Perseus. 

1 


2  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

When  a  woman  otherwise  famous,  and  living  at  a  distant 
date,  is  spoken  of,  if  there  be  no  specific  information  respect- 
ing her  person,  tradition  becomes  gallant,  and,  in  the  al> 
sence  of  any  cvkk-'K-o  to  the  contrary,  gifts  her  with  beauty 
in  '  abundance.  It  is  this  consideration  which  gives  weight 
Xd  the  belief  that,  :n  drawing  her  picture  more  than  five  hun- 
dred'years  after  Sappho  had  ceased  to  sing,  Ovid  did  not 
indulge  in  any  wayward  fancy  of  his  own,  rich  and  original 
as  his  fancy  was  beyond  that  of  any  other  of  the  Roman 
poets,  but  embodied  a  well-founded  and  universally-received 
tradition,  if  he  even  did  not  make  use  of  authentic  historical 
information  extant  in  his  time.  The  language  which  Ovid 
puts  into  her  mouth  is  so  specific  as  to  give  countenance  to 
the  belief  entertained  by  some  writers  that  the  finest  parts 
of  this  epistle,  one  of  the  best  in  the  collection,  were  taken 
from  the  writings  of  Sappho,  which  were  in  the  poet's  hands. 

To  the  evidence  furnished  by  Ovid,  which  is  very  strong, 
that  Sappho  could  not  boast  of  personal  beauty,  some  have 
added  a  testimouy  which  is  certainly  very  weak.  There  are 
two  verses  preserved  amongst  the  fragments  of  Sappho,  in 
which  she  expresses  her  preference  of  the  beauty  of  the 
mind  to  the  beauty  of  the  person.*  The  argument  drawn 
from  these  verses — that  Sappho  undervalued  what  she  did 
not  possess — is,  I  think,  perfectly  worthless.  In  all  ages  of 
the  world,  both  writers  and  speakers  often,  no  doubt  hypo- 
critically enough,  expressed  the  very  decided  preference 
which  they  felt  for  moral  and  intellectual  over  personal 
beauty;  and  this  preference,  in  truth,  is  one  of  the  most 
completely  worn  out  of  common-places.  A  volume  of  huge 
size  might,  without  mucl*  tro*ble,  be  compiled  on  the  praises 
of  intellect  and  virtue,  and  the  worthlessness  of  fine  faces 
and  fine  figures.      "  Madame  de  Stael,"   says  M.    Philareto 

*  Sappho   "Fragmenta  et  Elogia."     Cura  Jo.   Christian!  Wolfii,    p. 

72.     Hamburg,  1733. 


SAPPHO.  3 

Chasles,  to  whom  I  shall  have  again  to  refer  on  the  subject 
of  Sappho's  portrait,  "  whom  nature  had  little  favored,  was 
an  enthusiast  for  beauty;  Charlotte  Corday,  beautiful  as  an 
angel,  thought  on  this  subject  like  Sappho."*  I  have  no 
doubt  that,  whatever  they  might  think,  most  beauties  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  speaking  like  Sappho. 

In  opposition  to  the  strong  testimony  of  Ovid,  it  has  been 
urged  that  a  series  of  writers,  ranging  from  Plato,  writing 
about  four  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era,  down  to 
the  Princess  Anna  Comnena  in  the  eleventh  century,  have 
bestowed  upon  Sappho  the  Greek  epithet  which  signifies 
beautifuL  In  looking,  however,  at  the  passages  quoted,  it 
will,  I  think,  be  found  that  in  none  of  them  is  the  epithet 
used  in  a  very  positive  sense,  but  that  in  all  of  them  it  is  ap- 
plied vaguely  and  loosely,  the  subsequent  writers  simply 
repeating  the  expression  of  Plato.  In  the  "  Phaedrus"  Plato 
represents  Socrates  speaking  of  some  works  "  of  the  beauti- 
ful Sappho,"  (Sa^aus  T77j  xai.rrf.)  On  this  passage  we  have 
an  important  criticism  by  the  Platonic  philosopher,  Maximus 
Tynus,  who  tells  us  that  Sappho  who  was  "little  and  black," 
(fiixpav  xai  nz-haivav  ;)  and  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  he  had 
other  authority  for  bringing  these  charges  against  her  than  the 
verses  of  Ovid,  to  which,  it  is  to  be  observed,  he  makes  no 
reference  whatever.  _But,  besides  this,  Maximus  Tjnrius  sup- 
plies us  with  what  I  believe  is  the  true  explanation  of  the 
epithet  which  Plato  has  joined  to  the  name  of  Sappho,  and 
which  others  after  him  have  allowed  her,  when  he  tells  us 
that  Socrates  called  Sappho  "beautiful"  on  account  of  her 
poetry. f  The  same  interpretation  may,  I  think,  be  fairly 
put  on  all  the  other  passages  cited  from  the  Greek  writers. 
Athenseus  simply  speaks  of  "  the  beautiful  Sappho,"  (57  xa^ 

*  "  Etudes  sur  l'Antiquite,"  p.  282.     Paris,  1847. 

t  Maximus  Tyrius,  "  Disseriatio,"  vm,  p.  90.     Contab.  1703. 


4  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Ja^u.)*  Two  passages  are  met  with  in  the  letters  of  the 
Emperor  Julian,  in  which,  while  he  is  referring  to  the  lit- 
erary genius  of  the  poetess,  he  calls  her  the  beautiful  Sap- 
pho." "  Sappho  the  beautiful,"  he  says  in  one  of  these  pas- 
sages, "  tells  us  that  the  moon  is  silvery,  and  that  therefore 
she  obscures  the  face  of  the  other  stars,  "f  In  the  other  pas- 
sage, writing  to  his  friend  Alypius,  he  acknowledges  the  Iam- 
bic verses  which  he  has  received  from  him,  and  which  he  says 
are  such  as  the  beautiful  Sappho  weaves  in  her  odes."|  The 
expression  is  the  expression  of  Plato,  borrowed  by  Julian,  his 
disciple  and  enthusiastic  admirer.  Now  Plato  himself,  like  his 
master  Socrates,  to  whom  he  attributes  the  expression  about 
Sappho,  was  sensible  alike  to  the  beauties  of  the  person  and 
of  the  mind,  and,  indeed,  considered  the  one  to  be  the  reflexion 
of  the  other.  But  anything  so  unphilosophical  as  delight  in 
the  contemplation  of  female  beauty  has  never  been  charged  on 
Julian  whose  passion  was  all  for  the  charms  of  the  cold  god- 
desses of  Olympus.  .In  the  passage  in  which  Anna  Comncna 
speaks  of  Sappho,  the  application  of  the  term  "  beautiful"  is 
equally  vague  and  unrestricted.  The  princess  is  referring  to 
the  horrible  heresies  of  the  Bogomilians,  and  says  that  she  could 
explain  the  whole,  but  that  modesty  forbids  her,  "  as  the  beau- 
tiful Sappho  somewhere  says,"  (wj  <r«  ^aiv  ^  xa^  2a7t<j>u.)|| 

In  the  face  of  such  extremely  loose  and  careless  authorities 
— all  of  them  it  may  be  assumed  repeating  the  phrase  of  Plato, 
which  his  follower  Maximus  Tyrius  evidently  understood  and 
has  explained  in  its  proper  sense — the  description  adopted  by 
Ovid  has  prevailed  in  the  general  belief. 

A  fragment — a  single    line — of  Alcseus,  one  of   Sappho's 

*  "  Athenscus,"  lib.  xm,  p  596.     Edit.  1611. 

f  Julian,  "Epist.  ad  Hecebolum,"  xix.     Opera,  p   386.     Lipsiae,  1696. 

%  "Epist.  ad  Alypium,"  xxx.     Opera,  p.  403. 

||  Anna)  Comnenae  Csesariensis  "  Alexis,"  lib.  xv,  Venet.,  1729. 


SAPPHO.  5 

lovers,  has  been  preserved,  in  which  he  addresses  her  us  his 
"  dark-haired,  chaste,  sweetly  smiling  Sappho ;"  {loTt-Koxa^1  ayi>a, 
UtiUzopsiBs  2a7r^ot  ;)*  a  very  moderate  compliment  from  a  lover. 
Antipater  of  Thessaly,  a  poet  of  the  time  of  Augustus,  has 
unfairly  been  quoted  as  praising  the  beauty  of  Sappho.  He 
merely  praises  the  Lesbian  women,  whose  beauty  has  at  all 
times  been  as  famous  as  the  intensity  of  their  passions,  of  which 
Sappho  had  her  share  with  the  rest.  In  the  verses  referred 
to,  Antipater  speaks  of  "  Sappho,  the  ornament  of  the  beauti- 
ful   haired    woman    of    Lesbos,"    (AcafcatW    2atf<j>w    xoopov 

ev7i%oxaficov.)'\ 

In  the  Greek  Anthology,  there  are  also  some  verses  ad- 
dressed by  Damocharis  to  Sappho,  in  which  her  beauty  is 
commended.;};  Damocharis,  like  Antipator,  is  a  poet  of  the  era 
of  Augustus,  and  the  evidence  of  a  passage  in  his  complimentary 
verses  to  the  most  distinguished  of  the  Greek  poetesses,  has 
really  very  little  weight. 

The  proof  that  Sappho  was  destitute  of  personal  beauty 
has  satisfied  Bayle,  who  speaks  of  her  in  the  most  unromantic 
terms.  He  is  by  no  means  surprised  that  Phaon  would  have 
nothing  to  do  with  her.  "  Sappho,"  he  says,  "  was  a  widow 
in  the  decline  of  life,  who  had  never  been  pretty,  who  had  given 
occasion  for  being  scandalously  spoken  of  during  her  widow- 
hood, and  who  paid  no  regard  to  decency  in  testifying  the  vio- 
lence of  her  passion."|| 

There  was  a  statue  of  Sappho  erected  in  the  Prytanum  of 
Syracuse.  Her  figure  was  cut  in  brass  by  the  statuary  Si- 
lanion.  The  people  of  Mytelene,  it  is  said  on  somewhat  doubt- 
ful authority,  stamped  her  effigy  on  their  coins.  Her  portrait, 
says  Pliny,  was  drawn  by  the  painter  Leon.    Ausonius  has  an 

*  "  Fragmenta  et  Elogia.''     Woiff,  p.  126. 

t  "  Anthologia  Graeca,"  lib.  n,  p.  65.     LipsLe,  1829. 

X  "Anthologia,"  lib.  in,  p.  304. 

||  Bayle,  "  Dictionn  aire  Hist  et  Crit."     Art   "Sappho." 


6  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

epigram  on  the  picture  of  Sappho,  in  which,  following  another 
epigram  in  the  Anthology  attributed  to  Plato,  he  calls  her 
"  The  Tenth  Muse."  The  writer  who  gives  an  original  idea 
to  the  world  is  valuable.  This  fine  idea  of  Plato  has  been 
used  over  and  over  again  without  any  acknowledgment.  The 
title  of  "  The  Tenth  Muse,"  is  well  deserved  by  Sappho,  but  it  has 
been  somewhat  lowered  in  having  also  been  bestowed  on  Mar- 
garet, the  famous  Queen  of  Navarre — a  good  woman,  but  not 
a  muse  nor  a  poetical  genius  in  any  respect.  A  Mexican- 
Spanish  poetess  of  the  seventeenth  century,  Dona  Juana  Inez 
de  la  Cruz,  is  styled  in  the  title-page  of  her  works  "  The  Tenth 
Muse  ;"  and  this  appellation  has  been  completely  prostituted 
by  having  been  awarded  to  that  polyglott  Dutch  virgin,  Anna 
Maria  a  Schurman,  a  female  admirable  Crichton,  without  one 
particle  of  genius  or  original  talent  about  her.  This  title  is 
bestowed  on  Mademoiselle  Schurman  by  the  very  learned 
Fredrick  Spanheim,  in  his  address  to  the  reader  prefixed  to 
her  works.* 

Gronovius  in  his  splendid  collection  of  the  effigies  of  illustrious 
men  and  women,  has  engraved  a  sculpture  of  Sappho  in  the 
form  of  the  statues  called  Hermce.\  The  face  is  a  half  front, 
the  eye  full  of  fire,  the  forehead  protruding  as  we  see  it  in  wo- 
men led  into  crime  by  furious  passions,  the  nose  masculine,  the 
mouth  highly  intellectual,  and  the  whole  expression  of  the  fea- 
tures that  of  deep  melancholy  energy.  A  copy  of  this  en- 
graving forms  a  striking  frontispiece  to  Wolff's  elaborate  edi- 
tion of  the  remains  of  Sappho.  In  speaking  of  this  portrait, 
M.  Philarete  Chasles  takes  notice  of  "  the  bold,  masculine  ex- 
pression of  the  face,  the  audacious  projection  of  the  forehead, 
speaking  of  passion  and  vehemence  of  thought,  the  lips  a  little 

*  "Xobiliss.  Yirginis  Annas  Maria;  a  Schurman  Opusoula."  Tra- 
jecti  ad  llhenum,  IG52. 

f  Gronoviu3,  "  Thesaurus  Antiquit.  Orsecarum,'  n,  ?A.     Venet  1782. 


SAPPHO.  7 

thick  but  well  chiselled,  ready  to  throw  out  sentiment  and  elo- 
quence, the  eye  ardent  and  open,  and  animated  with  inexpres- 
sible energy.  This  is  Sappho.  This  is  that  woman  gifted 
with  a  masculine  soul  and  impetuous  senses,  devoted  to  genius 
and  misfortune,  to  disasters  and  to  distinction,  to  a  fatal  glory 
which  survives  her  works.  In  presence  of  this  portrait  we 
are  tempted  to  cry  out  with  Plutarch, '  I  see  the  volcano  from 
whence  have  issued  flaming  thoughts  and  burning  hymns.'  " 
After  telling  us  that  he  rejects  as  spurious  all  the  portraits 
extant  of  Sappho,  except  this  admirable  one,  M.  Chasles  pro- 
ceeds :  "  It  would  agree  as  well  with  one  of  the  criminal  hero- 
ines of  Byron  or  of  Eschylus  as  with  the  lover  of  Phaon.  It 
bears  the  character  of  that  organisation  which  consumes  the 
life,  and  which  delivers  up  a  Avoman  to  all  the  fury  of  the  pas- 
sions, to  all  the  remorse  and  all  the  sorrow  which  they  carry 
along  with  them."* 

In  Ovid's  picture  of  Sappho  we  have  a  portrait  rescued 
from  extreme  antiquity.  It  is  no  part  of  my  design  to  record 
the  histories  of  the  persons  described  in  this  work  ;  and  in  the 
case  of  Sappho,  this  is  a  happy  relief  from  a  painful  duty. 
Madame  Dacier  was  good-naturedly  resolved  to  hold  that 
Sappho  was  an  ill-used  woman  ;  and  the  German  "Welcker 
has  written  a  book  to  prove  her  innocence.  Thirhvall,  the 
present  Bishop  of  St.  David's,  in  his  "  History  of  Greece," 
treats  her  guilt  as  a  slander  ;  and  Sir  Edward  Lytton  Bulwer 
appears,  from  a  remark  in  his  "  Athens  and  the  Athenians," 
in  reference  to  Welcker's  wwk,  to  be  one  of  those  charitable 
persons  who  believe  in  her  purity.  "  Sappho,"  says  Sir  Ed- 
ward, "  (whose  chaste  and  tender  muse  it  was  reserved  for 
the  chivalry  of  a  northern  student  five-and-twenty  centuries 
after  her  hand  was  cold  and  her  tongue  was  mute,  to  vindicate 
from  the  longest  continued  calumny  that  genius  ever  endured) 

*  "Etudes  sur  l'Antiquite,"  p.  282. 


8  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

gave  to  the  most  ardent  of  human  passions  the  most  delicate 
coloring  of  female  sentiment."* 

The  evidence  on  the  other  side  is,  however,  painfully  strong. 
At  the  distance  of  more  than  two  thousand  years,  the  verses 
of  the  unhappy  Sappho  still  breathe  the  very  soul  of  that 
consuming  passion,  which  called  forth  and  lighted  up  the  fire 
of  her  genius.  There  is  an  unconcerted  harmony  in  the  strong 
figurative  language  which  has  been  used  in  describing  her 
poetry,  by  all  who  have  spoken  of  it.  Horace  celebrates  the 
hot  loves  which  the  iEolian  girl  gave  to  her  lyre ;  Plutarch 
says  she  breathes  fire ;  and  Byron  has  called  her  "  the  burn- 
ing Sappho."  It  was  by  the  study  of  her  writing's,  we  are 
told,  that  the  physician  Erasistratus  discovered  that  the  sick- 
ness of  Antiochus  arose  from  his  love  for  his  mother-in-law 
Stratonice.f 

Sappho  taught  amatory  writing  to  the  Greek  poets,  and 
amongst  her  scholars  are  reckoned  the  sad  Simonides  and  that 
Ibycus  of  Rhegium,  who,  of  all  others,  appeared  to  Cicero  to 
be  warmest  in  love.J 

The  ancients  made  this  woman  a  heroine  in  their  dramas 
and  romances.  The  love  of  Anacreon  and  Sappho  is  merely 
a  beautiful  fiction,  the  credit  of  which  is  destroyed  by  chrono- 
logy. "  Diphilus  the  comedian,"  says  Bentley,  "  in  his  Sappho 
introduced  Archilochus  and  Hipponax  as  gallants  to  that  lady, 
though  the  one  was  dead  before  she  was  born,  and  she  dead 
before  the  other  was  born."||  Had  it  been  practicable  for 
Sappho  to  have  been  courted  by  Hipponax,  she  would  have 
had  a  lover,  whose  remarkabe  person  is  commemorated  by 
^Elian  in  his  chapter  on  thin  men,  where  we  are  told  that  the 
poet  was  of  small  stature,  and  deformed,  and  very  slender. IT 

*  "  Athens,"  b.  I.  c.  8 

t  Plutarch,  "  Demetrius." 

+  Cicero,  "  Tuscul."  iv,  33. 

||  Bentley,  "Dissertation  on  Phalaris."     Works  i.  p.  183.     Lond.  1S36. 

TJ  Lilian,  "  Varia  Historia,"  lib.  x,  c   6. 


^:sop. 


There  are  certain  great  persons  in  history  regarding 
whom  the  traditions  of  fable  and  poetry,  and  the  assertions 
of  plain  falsehood,  have  triumphed  in  the  vulgar  belief  of 
ages  over  the  most  authentic  records  and  the  most  complete 
evidence.  That  Homer  was  a  beggar;  that  Belisarius  be- 
came both  blind  and  a  beggar;  that  Shakspere  had  no  clas- 
sical learning ;  and  that  iEsop,  the  fabulist,  was  a  dwarf, 
with  a  hump  on  his  back,  are  at  this  moment  historical 
facts  with,  perhaps,  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  who  have 
heard  of  these  illustrious  men. 

The  name  of  iEsop  is  amongst  the  most  renowned  that 
have  come  down  from  antiquity.  His  era  is  some  time 
about  five  or  six  hundred  years  before  Christ.  He  stands 
somewhere  between  Homer  and  the  great  age  of  Grecian 
literature.  The  story  of  his  deformity  is  of  comparatively 
modern  origin,  even  if  the  broad  assertion  of  Bentley,  who 
holds  that  it  was  first  sent  forth  to  the  world  by  Planudes. 
a  Byzantine  monk  of  the  fourteenth  century,  should  be 
found  to  be  untenable. 

1*  (9) 


10  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Of  Pkmudes,  Bentley  says,  with  characteristic  politeness, 
"  that  idiot  of  a  monk  has  given  us  a  book  which  he  calls 
'  The  Life  of  iEsop,'  that  perhaps  cannot  be  matched  in 
any  language  for  ignorance  and  nonsense."*  It  is  some- 
what curious  to  find  Bentley  resenting  more  warmly  than 
he  does  all  the  other  fictions  in  the  monk's  work  the  unfa- 
vorable representation  which  it  gives  of  iEsop's  person. 
"  But  of  all  his  injuries  to  iEsop,  that  which  can  least  be 
forgiven  him,  is  making  such  a  monster  of  him  for  ugli- 
ness ;  an  abuse  that  has  found  credit  so  universally,  that  all 
the  modern  painters  since  the  time  of  Planudes  have  drawn 
him  in  the  worst  shapes  and  features  that  fancy  could  invent. 
It  was  an  old  tradition  amongst  the  Greeks  that  yEsop 
revived  again  and  lived  a  second  life.  Should  he  revive  once 
more  and  see  the  picture  before  the  book  that  carries  his 
name,  could  he  think  it  drawn  for  himself  or  for  the  monkey, 
or  some  strange  beast  introduced  in  his  fables  ?" 

Since  the  time  of  Planudes,  a  thousand  authorities  have 
copied  his  description,  and  there  is  not  a  pictured  edition  of 
iEsop,  or  Phsedrus,  or  Fontaine,  which  does  not  help  to  sanc- 
tion and  sanctify  the  belief.  Yet  the  critical  inquirer  must 
reject  the  tale.  u  What  revelation,"  asks  Bentley,  "  had  this 
monk  about  iEsop's  deformity  ?  For  he  must  learn  it  by 
dream  and  vision,  and  not  by  ordinary  methods  of  knowledge. 
He  lived  about  two  thousand  years  after  him ;  and  in  all  that 
tract  of  time  there's  not  one  single  author  that  has  given  the 
least  hint  that  ./Esop  was  ugly." 

It  is  said,  and  the  remark  is  founded  on  a  generous  feeling 
amongst  mankind,  that  when  once  we  begin  to  think  that  the 
devil  is  not  so  very  black  as  the  vulgar  represent  him  to  be, 
we  never  stop  till  we  make  him  as  fair  as  an  angel.     In  this 

*  Bentley,  "  Dissertation  upon  the  Fables  of  iEsop."  Works,  vol. 
ii.  p.  233.  . 


iESOP.  !  1 

spirit,  Bentley  is  not  content  with  showing  that  the  popular 
notion  about  the  deformity  and  ugliness  of  JEsop  is  unfounded, 
but  adduces  arguments  to  make  us  believe  that  he  was  really 
beautiful ;  and  his  arguments  are  well  arranged,  and  not  with- 
out weight.  He  tells  us  that  in  Plutarch's  '  Convivium  :' 
"  Our  iEsop  is  one  of  the  guests  with  Solon,  and  the  other 
sages  of  Greece ;  there  is  abundance  of  jest  and  raillery 
there  among  them,  and  particularly  upon  JEsop  ;  but  nobody 
drolls  upon  his  ugly  face,  which  could  hardly  have  escaped 
had  he  had  such  a  bad  one.  Perhaps  you'll  say  it  had  been 
rude  and  indecent  to  touch  upon  a  natural  imperfection.  Not 
at  all,  if  it  had  been  done  softly  and  jocosely.  In  Plato's 
'  Feast,'  they  are  very  merry  upon  Socrates'  face,  that  resem- 
bled old  Silenus  ;  and  in  this  they  twit  iEsop  for  having  been 
a  slave,  which  was  no  more  his  fault  than  deformity  would  have 
been.  Philostratus  has  given  us,  in  two  books,  a  description  of  a 
gallery  of  pictures ;  one  of  which  is  iEsop,  with  a  chorus  of 
animals  about  him.  There  he  is  represented  smiling  and  look- 
ing towards  the  ground  in  a  jjosture  of  thought ;  but  not  a 
word  of  his  deformity,  which,  were  it  true,  must  needs  have 
been  touched  on  in  an  account  of  a  picture." 

This  is  really  ingenious,  and  in  a  great  degree  as  solid  as 
it  is  ingenious.  But  there  is  still  more  in  this  line  of  argument 
in  which  Bentley  has  displayed  great  ability.  He  alludes  to  the 
statue  which  Phsedrus  tells  us  was  erected  by  the  Athenians 
in  honor  of  iEsop,  and  adds  :  "  But  had  he  been  such  a  mon- 
ster as  Planudes  has  made  him,  a  statue  had  been  no  better 
than  a  monument  of  his  ugliness;  it  had  been  kinder  to  his 
memory  to  have  let  that  alone.  But  the  famous  Lysippus  was 
the  statuary  that  made  it.  And  must  so  great  a  hand  be 
employed  to  dress  up  a  lump  of  deformity?"  Bentley  next 
refers  to  the  epigram  of  Agathias  upon  this  statue,  and  asks  : 
"  How  could  he,  too,  have  omitted  to  speak  of  it,  had  his  ugli- 
ness been  so  notorious  ?     The  Greeks  have  several  proverbs 


12  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

about  persons  deformed.  Our  iEsop,  if  so  very  ugly,  would 
have  been  in  the  first  rank  of  them  ;  especially  when  his  statue 
had  stood  there  to  put  every  body  in  mind  of  it."  The  con- 
clusion of  Bentley's  argument  is  admirable.  "  But  I  wish," 
he  says,  "I  could  do  that  justice  to  the  memory  of  our  Phry- 
gian to  oblige  the  painters  to  change  their  pencil.  For  it  is 
certain  he  was  no  deformed  person,  and  it  is  probable  he  was 
very  handsome.  For  whether  he  was  a  Phrygian,  or  as  others 
say,  a  Thracian,  he  must  have  been  sold  into  Samos  by  a  tra- 
der in  slaves.  And  it  is  well  known  that  that  sort  of  people 
commonly  bought  up  the  most  beautiful  they  could  light  on, 
because  they  would  yield  the  most  profit.  And  there  is  men- 
tion of  two  slaves,  fellow  servants  together,  iEsop  and  Ehodo- 
pis,  a  woman ;  and  if  we  may  guess  him  by  his  companion 
and  contubernalis,  we  must  needs  believe  him  a  comely  person. 
Por  that  Bhodopis  was  the  greatest  beauty  of  all  her  age,  and 
even    a  proverb    arose  in   memory    of  it:    AiravS'  o.uota,  xo.t, 

PoSwrttj  ri  zaXij." 

Upon  the  whole,  Bentley  has  been  successful  in  relieving 
iEsop  of  the  hump  which  the  almost  unanimous  voice  of  man- 
kind in  modern  days  had  fixed  on  his  back,  and  the  evidence 
brought  to  prove  that  he  was  really  handsome  is  certainly  re- 
spectable. 

Prom  the  time  that  the  ugliness  of  iEsop  was  asserted  in 
the  romance  of  Planudes,  till  Bentley  attacked  and  demolish- 
ed the  credibility  of  the  story,  the  belief  that  iEsop  was  a  de- 
formed dwarf  appears  to  have  been  universal  even  amongst 
the  learned.  Lord  Bacon  makes  use  of  this  belief  in  his 
"  Essay  on  Deformity."  The  author  of  "  The  Anatomy  of 
Melancholy"  also  assumes  it  as  a  fact.  Eitterhusius,  in  his 
Commentary  on  Phsedrus's  Pables,  while  his  attention  must 
have  been  called  to  the  history  of  iEsop,  in  noticing  the  line 
where  Phsedrus  says  he  has  known  many  excellent  persons 
with  ugly  faces  (et  turpi  facie  multos  cognovi  optimos),  gives 


yESOP.  13 

iEsop  as  his  first  instance  of  a  good  man  with  a  deformed  per- 
son.* Bayle,  who  takes  every  opportunity  of  extolling  the 
gifts  of  the  mind  over  those  of  the  body,  tells  us  that  intellect 
is  able  to  overcome,  in  the  eyes  of  a  beauty,  the  ill  effects  of 
ugliness  ;  "  ^Esop,"  he  says,  "  the  most  ugly  of  men,  neverthe- 
less touched  the  heart  of  Rhodope."f 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  the  old  Scottish  poet,  Rob- 
ert Henrysoun,  writing  between  1500  and  1508,  in  his  Pro- 
logue to  his  Fables,  which  are  full  of  poetical  beauty,  repre- 
sents iEsop,  appearing  to  him  in  a  dream— not  as  a  little 
hunchback,  but  as  "  the  fairest  man  that  he  had  ever  seen," 
and  of  stature  large. 

It  may  be  worth  mentioning,  that  Dr.  Blomfield  (in  the  "  Mu- 
seum Criticum")  asserts  that  the  life  of  yEsop,  attributed  to 
Planudes,  is  more  ancient  than  his  time.  But  what  is  more 
to  the  purpose,  as  proving  that  Bentley  is  so  far  wrong,  though 
substantially  in  the  right,  is  this :  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dyce,  in  his 
annotations  on  Bentley' s  works,  quotes  Huschke,  a  German 
critic,  as  referring  to  a  passage  in  the  orations  of  Himerius,  a 
writer  of  the  fourth  century,  in  which  ./Esop  is  spoken  of  as 
ugly.  Himerius  thus  becomes  an  authority  upon  the  question 
of  ugliness,  standing  midway  between  iEsop  and  Planudes, 
and  reducing  the  wide  waste  of  two  thousand  years  to  one 
thousand.  But  the  evidence  adduced  by  Bentley,  that  iEsop 
was  not  ugly,  is  still,  I  think  nearly  conclusive. 

The  notion  that  iEsop  was  ill-favored  and  deformed,  may 
have  originated  in  the  vulgar  belief  in  the  wisdom  of  hunch- 
backs and  crooked  persons;  a  belief  which  is  prevalent 
amongst  those  persons  themselves,  affording  them  more  than 
solace  for  their  ungainly  exterior.     Lord  Bacon  is  perhaps  not 

*  Phaedri  "  Fabuhe,"  p.  ,'35i>.     Amstel,  1698. 

t  Bayle,  "Diet.  Hist,  et  Crit."     Art.  "  Hhodope  " 


14  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

far  wrong-  when  he  says  that  "  all  deformed  persons  are  bold. 
First,  as  in  their  own  defence,  as  being  exposed  to  scorn  ;  but 
in  process  of  time  by  a  general  habit.  Also  it  stirreth  in 
them  industry  and  especially  of  this  kind,  to  watch  and  observe 
the  weakness  of  others  that  they  may  have  somewhat  to  repay." 
The  renown  of  iEsop  has  been  such  as  might  satisfy  any 
ambition.  The  Athenians,  we  have  seen,  erected  a  public 
statue  in  his  honor.  Socrates  versified  some  of  his  Fables, 
while  lying  in  prison  awaiting  the  executioner.  Luther  held 
these  apologues  to  be  next  in  value  to  the  New  Testament. 
And  the  children  in  all  civilized  countries  at  this  day  seek 
pleasure  and  wisdom  in  them. 


PYTHAGOBAS. 


The  extreme  beauty  of  Pythagoras,  the  father  of  philoso- 
phy, is  matter  of  uniform  tradition,  and  is  alluded  to  by  all 
his  biographers.  His  mother,  Pythias  of  Samos,  was  the 
most  beautiful  woman  of  the  age  ;  her  charms  being  commem- 
orated by  a  poet  of  her  country,  who  declares,  in  a  distich 
which  is  preserved  in  Jamblichus,  that  she  bore  Pythagoras  to 
the  God  Apollo.  Pythagoras  himself  appears  to  have  been 
not  unwilling  to  be  believed  to  be  the  son  of  Apollo,  or  even 
Apollo  himself  come  in  the  flesh.  His  disciple,  Jamblichus, 
with  more  respect  for  the  honor  of  the  philosopher's  mother, 
denies  his  divine  origin,  but  admits  that  his  soul  was  from 
Apollo.  When  his  mother  was  with  child,  the  oracle  of  Del- 
phi declared  that  she  would  bring  forth  a  son  excelling  all 
men  in  beauty,  and  who  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  World.* 
The  writer  of  the  life  of  Pythagoras,  ascribed  to  Porphyry, 
tells  us  that  Pythagoras  had  a  very  beautiful  face  and  was 
tall  in  stature,  and  that  there  was  much  grace  and  comeliness 
in  his  manners  and  in  all  the  movements  of  his  body.f     The 

*  Diogenes  Lsertius,  "  Vit.  Philos."  Art.  "Pythagoras."     Jamblichus, 
«'  De  Vita  Pythagoras,"  c.  it,  sec.  5.     Amst.  1707 
f  Porphyrin. «,  nee   18. 


16  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

epithet  "  Cometes  "  was  applied  to  him  in  allusion  to  his  long 
flowing  hair,  and  he  was  also  called  "  the  youth  with  the  beau- 
tiful hair."  His  personal  elegance  was  accompanied  with  great 
strength  and  admirable  health,  his  life  having  been  prolonged 
to  nearly  a  hundred  years,  or,  as  some  say,  to  more  than  a 
century.  His  appearance  and  voice  fixed  upon  him  the  at- 
tention of  all  who  ever  came  in  his  presence.* 

Tn  his  eighteenth  year,  Pythagoras  appeared  at  the  Olympic 
games,  where  he  offered  himself  as  a  boxer  amongst  the  boys, 
but  the  judges  decided  that  he  had  passed  boyhood,  on  which 
he  took  up  a  match  with  the  men,  and  vanquished  them  all.f 
Pythagoras  is  not  merely  the  father  of  philosophy,  but  also 
the  father  of  what  in  modern  days  is  courteously  called  "  the 
noble  art  of  self-defence."  He  was  the  first  who  boxed  sci- 
entifically, and  the  lessons  wThich  he  gave  to  his  pupil  Eury- 
menes  made  him  the  champion  of  the  ring.  Eurymenes,  as  we 
learn  from  Porphyry,  was  of  small  stature,  but,  under  the  in- 
struction of  Pythagoras,  was  able  to  thresh  the  biggest  man 
who  appeared  against  him.  The  athletes  were  dieted  upon 
cheese  and  figs,  but  Eurymenes,  by  advice  of  Pythagoras, 
took  daily  a  certain  allowance  of  animal  food.J  Jamblichus, 
it  may  be  mentioned,  tells  us  nothing  of  this,  but  he  mentions 
another  Pythagoras,  a  disciple  of  the  philosopher,  who  wrote 
some  books  on  athletics,  and  who  directed  the  wrestlers  to  eat 
animal  food.  Pliny  also  appears  to  believe  that  the  philoso- 
pher and  the  wrestler  were  not  the  same  person.  He  tells  us 
that  the  eating  of  figs  gives  strength  to  the  body,  and  that  hence 
the  athletes  were  fed  on  them,  and  that  it  was  Pythagoras, 
"  the  master  of  exercises  "  (exercitator,)  who  first  taught  them 
to  eat  flesh. ||     The  notion  that  Pythagoras  and  his  disciples 

*  Jamblichus,  c.  n,  sec.  10. 

t  Diogenes  Laertius.  Art.  «  Pythagoras." 

%  Porphyrius,  sec.  15, 

||  Plinius,  "  Hist.  Nat."  1.  xxm,  c.  7. 


PYTHAGORAS.  17 

wholly  abstained  from  animal  food,  has  no  doubt  helped  the 
belief  in  the  distinction  between  the  sage  and  the  boxer.  But 
it  is  not  established ;  and  Pythagoras  had  every  qualification 
for  excelling  in  the  art  of  self-defence,  being,  as  Bentley  says, 
"  a  lusty  proper  man,  and  built,  as  it  were,  to  make  a  good 
boxer.*  Jamblichus  tells  us  that  amongst  their  other  exercises, 
the  disciples  of  Pythagoras  were  instructed  in  anointing,  racing, 
and  wrestling,  in  throwing  the  plummet,  and  in  leaping,  and  in 
short,  in  all  exercises  calculated  to  strengthen  the  powers  of 
the  body.f  The  body  was  considered  as  worthy  of  education, 
as  the  soul  by  the  sages  of  Greece.  Cleanthes,  the  stoic,  the 
strongest  man  of  his  age,  was  in  his  youth,  like  Pythag- 
oras, a  famous  bruiser ;  Chrysippus  shone  on  the  raca-course, 
while  Plato  and  Lycon  of  Troas  were  distinguished  as  wrest- 
lers. 

In  manhood  and  old  age  Pythagoras  was  remarkable  for 
the  dignity  and  gravity  of  his  aspect.  No  one,  says  Porphyry, 
ever  saw  him  either  laugh  or  cry.  His  rebuke  in  one  instance 
is  said  to  have  been  followed  by  the  fatal  effect  which  has 
been  attributed  to  the  Satires  of  Archilochus.  A  young  man, 
reproved  by  Pythagoras,  straightway  went  and  hanged  him- 
self. Seeing  the  alarming  consequence  of  his  reprimand, 
which  there  need  be  no  doubt  was  conveyed  with  all  possible 
mildness,  the  philosopher,  who  was  of  a  sweet  and  amiable 
temper,  and  who  inculcated  in  his  disciples  the  duty  of  being 
gentle  in  censuring,  ever  afterwards,  it  is  said,  abstained  from 
reproving  at  all. 

The  beard  of  Pythagoras  was  long  and  flowing ;  and  as  he 
was  regarded  as  the  first  philosopher,  this  circumstance  helped 
to  make  a  long  beard  to  be  looked  on  as  the  badge  of  a  wdse 
man,  and  to  lead  all  the  quacks,  who  aspired  to  the  reputation 

*  Bentley,  "Phalaris  "     Works  i,  p.  121. 
t  Jamblichus,  c   \xi,  sec   97. 


1  8  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

and  profits  of  philosophy,  to  take  care  to  be  furnished  with  this 
outward  and  visible  sign  of  their  inner  wisdom,  and  of  the 
genuineness  of  their  calling.  In  all  ages  of  the  world  evidence 
of  wisdom  and  virtue,  quite  as  equivocal  as  a  long  beard,  has 
been  received  as  perfectly  satisfactory  both  by  the  learned  and 
the  unlearned  vulgar.  It  is  a  pretty  story  in  illustration  of 
the  reverence  which  the  ancients  paid  to  a  long  beard,  which 
is  told  by  Aulus  Gellius  of  the  wise  and  good  Herodes  Atti- 
cus.  A  person  came  to  Herodes,  wrapped  in  a  cloak  with 
long  hair  and  a  very  long  beard,  and  asked  money  of  him  to 
buy  bread.  Herodes  inquired  what  he  was,  on  which  the  beg- 
gar, with  a  frowning  face  and  surly  voice,  said  he  was  a  phi- 
losopher, expressing  at  the  same  time  his  wonder  that  Herodes 
should  ask  any  question  about  what  he  must  see.  "  I  see, 
indeed,"  replied  the  true  philosopher,  "  the  beard  and  the 
cloak ;  but  the  philosopher  I  do  not  yet  see.  I  request  you, 
however,  with  your  good  leave,  to  tell  me  what  reason  you 
think  we  have  for  knowing  you  to  be  a  philosopher."  On  this 
Herodes  dismissed  the  needy  quack  with  as  much  money  as 
would  buy  him  bread  for  thirty  days.* 

Like  Aristotle  and  Aristippus,  Pythagoras  delighted  in  the 
adorning  of  his  person,  and  was  altogether  a  man  of  elegant 
tastes.  He  wore  a  white  robe  with  Persian  trowsers 
(avaia>pc6£?,)  and  a  golden  crown  on  his  head.f  His  robe  was 
of  linen,  woollen  clothes  being  for  some  reason  or  other  avoided 
by  him  and  his  disciples. ;j:  There  was  a  refinement  about  all 
his  habits,  as  indeed  there  wTas  about  those  of  the  best  of  his 
followers  amongst  the  Greek  philosophers.  He  delighted  in 
poetry  ;  his  favorite  writers  being  Homer  and  Hesiod.  The 
verses  which  he  used  oftenest  to  sing  were  the  lines  in  the 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  "Noctes  Attica?,"  1.  ix,  c.  2. 
f  .^lian,  xi,  c   38. 

%  Jamblichus,  c   xxvm,  sec   149. 


PYTHAGORAS.  19 

seventeenth  book  of  the  Iliad  (5 1 ,  60,)  describing  the  death  of 
Euphorbus.  Euphorbus,  whose  soul  Pythagoras  taught  had 
passed  into  bis  body,  was,  like  Pythagoras,  extremely  beauti- 
ful. Like  Pythagoras  also  he  delighted  in  tasteful  ornaments : 
''  His  locks,"  says  Homer,  "  were  like  those  of  the  Graces, 
and  were  bound  with  gold  and  silver." 

Like  Sophocles,  and  the  accomplished  and  amiable  Theban, 
Epaminondas,  Pythagoras  was  skilled  iu  the  science  and  prac- 
tice of  music  and  dancing.*  The  instrument  of  his  preference 
was  the  lute.  Like  the  fabled  Minerva  and  the  true  Alcibi- 
ades,  he  probably  objected  to  the  pipe  on  account  of  its  disfig- 
uring the  features  of  the  player ;  but  Jamblichus  tells  us  that 
the  Pythagoreans  considered  that  the  pipe  had  something  ef- 
feminate in  it  unworthy  of  free  men.  Music  was  part  of  the 
regular  discipline  in  the  school  of  Pythagoras,  and  it  was  used 
as  a  medicine  for  physical  diseases,  as  well  as  for  the  sufferings 
of  the  soul.  "  There  were  strains  composed,"  says  Jamblichus, 
"  for  curing  the  affections  of  the  body,  and  others  which  were 
present  remedies  against  sorrow  and  anguish  of  the  heart  ;"f 
strains  which,  like  the  music  described  by  Milton,,  could —  - 

"  Mitigate  and  suage 
With  solemn  touches  troubled  thoughts,  and  chase 
Anguish,  and  doubt,  and  fear,  and  sorrow  and  pain 
From  mortal  or  immortal  minds."' 

The  disciples  of  Pythagoras  composed  their  minds  to  sleep  by 
soft  and  soothing  airs  played  on  the  lyre,  and  were  awakened 
in  the  morning  by  strains  of  a  stirring  spirit.  Such  wTas  the 
use  of  music  with  the  Pythagoreans ;  and  poetry  appears  to 
have  been  employed  also  as  affecting  the  health  of  the  body 
and  the  mind,  and  the  dispelling  of  evil  passions. 

Pythagoras  delivered  his  lectures  to  his  disciples  by  twos 

*  Quintilian,  "  Institut.  Orat."  lib.  XX. 
f  Jamblichus,  x.w,  sec   110. 


20  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

and  threes  at  a  time,  as  they  walked  together  in  the  shade  of 
some  beautiful  grove.  His  instructions  were  sought  after  by 
both  sexes ;  and  his  school  was  attended  by  several  distin- 
guished women.  Amongst  many  other  things  which"  impress 
us  with  a  highly  favorable  idea  of  the  intellect  and  character  of 
Pythagoras,  are  the  traditions  of  the  respect  and  kindness 
which  he  paid  to  women,  and  the  lessons  of  practical  wisdom 
which  he  taught  them.  But  Pythagoras,  it  should  be  recol- 
lected, lived  in  an  era  when  women  filled  their  natural  and  pro- 
per station  in  Greece,  and  long  before  the  Athenians  learned 
to  regard  their  wives  as  merely  household  drudges,  and  breed- 
ers of  children  for  the  service  of  the  State,  and  to  bestow  their 
respectful  attachment  on  the  imported  courtezans  of  Ionia.  I 
am  inclined  to  believe  that  it  was  no  doctrine  of  the  elegant 
Pythagoras,  which  is  imputed  to  him  by  the  ascetic  Platonists 
of  the  latter  ages,  that  no  woman  who  did  not  profess  unchas- 
tity  ought  to  wear  gold  ornaments. 

"With  regard  to  his  diet,  the  philosopher  has,  without  reason 
been  sometimes  claimed  by  the  vegetarians  as  a  member  of 
their  dyspeptic  fraternity ;  and  it  has  been  asserted  that  he 
fed  altogether  like  a  horse,  except  that  he  would  not  eat  beans. 
In  more  than  one  passage  in  the  biographies  of  him  by  Jamb- 
lichus  and  Porphyry,  it  is  said  absolutely  that  he  abstained 
from  wine  and  flesh,  and  forbade  their  use  to  his  disciples. 
His  ordinary  food  is  said  to  have  been  bread  and  honey,  and 
honey-comb  and  pot-herbs.  Millet  also  was  held  in  much 
esteem  by  the  Pythagorians.  Pythagoras  himself,  who  per- 
suaded an  ox  not  to  eat  beans,  is  also  said  to  have  instructed 
a  she-bear  to  eat  bread  and  apples,  and  to  have  dismissed  her 
after  taking  her  oath  that  she  would  never  more  taste  animal 
food.*  These  passages,  however,  are  inconsistent  with  others 
in  the  same  biographies,  in  which  it  is  declared  that  he  and  his 

*  Jamblichus,  c.  xm,  sec.  60.     Porphyrius,  sec.  23. 


PYTHAGOKAS.  21 

disciples  ate  the  flesh  of  animals  which  it  was  lawful  to  sacri- 
fice. Besides  this,  Aristoxenus,  a  disciple  of  Aristotle,  left 
behind  him  a  work  on  Pythagoras,  in  which,  as  he  is  quoted  by 
Aulus  Gellius,  he  says  that  of  all  kinds  of  pulse,  Pythagoras 
preferred  beans,  on  account  of  his  belief  in  their  medicinal 
qualities :  and  that  he  also  partook  of  kid's  flesh  and  sucking- 
pigs  *  Difficulties  and  doubts  hang  over  this  whole  subject, 
as  indeed  they  do  over  everything  connected  with  Pythagoras. 
The  probability  is,  that  the  philosopher  relaxed  and  modified 
his  dietary  laws  according  to  the  constitution  and  circum- 
stances of  his  disciples,  and  according  to  their  various  stages 
of  advancement  in  philosophy. 

The  whole  history  of  the  life  and  opinions  of  this  famous 
man  is  involved  in  obscurity  and  contradiction.  His  character 
is  an  interesting  study.  If  we  estimate  him  according  to  the 
impression  which  he  has  made  on  the  world,  we  must  admit 
him  to  have  been  one  of  the  greatest  of  mortals.  The  philo- 
sophy both  of  India  and  Egypt  seems  to  have  entered  into 
his  system.  His  writings  have  either  been  lost,  or,  according 
to  some  authorities,  he  left  nothing  in  writing  behind  him. 
Yet  the  influence  of  his  teaching  endured  directly  for  six  cen- 
turies in  Greece,  and  is  still  felt  in  the  world.  Speaking  with 
the  imperfect  and  confused  knowledge  of  Pythagoras,  which 
has  reached  modern  times,  it  appears  that  with  all  the  real 
wisdom  and  real  philanthropy  which  he  possessed,  he  mixed 
up  much  of  the  spirit  and  craft  of  the  impostor  and  the  jug- 
gler, and  that  he  committed  frauds  on  the  ignorance  and  inex- 
perience of  his  contemporaries,  in  order,  it  may  be  admitted, 
to  benefit  his  age  and  generation.  The  author  of  "  The  Anat- 
omy of  Melancholy"  gives  Pythagoras  the  character  of  being 
"  part  philosopher,  part  magician,  and  part  witch."  Sir  Ed- 
ward Bulwer  Lytton  in  his  "  Student"  has  some  fine  remarks 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  iv,  c.  11,  sec.  4. 


22  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

on  distinguished  men,  who,  for  the  sake  of  effect  and  influence, 
havo  mingled  quackery  with  their  greatness,  and  Pythagoras 
comes  first  on  the  list.  "  Mankind,"  says  Bulwer,  "  love  to  be 
cheated ;  thus  the  men  of  genins,  who  have  not  disappointed 
the  world  in  their  externals,  and  what  I  shall  term  the  man- 
agement of  self,  have  always  played  a  part ;  they  have  kept 
alive  the  vulgar  wonder  by  tricks  suited  to  the  vulgar  under- 
standing ;  they  have  measured  their  conduct  by  device  and 
artifice,  and  have  walked  the  paths  of  life  in  the  garments  of 
the  stage.  Thus  did  Pythagoras  and  Diogenes ;  thus  did  Na- 
poleon and  Louis  XIV.  (the  last  of  whom  was  a  man  of  ge- 
nius, if  only  from  the  delicate  beauty  of  his  compliments;) 
thus  did  Bolingbroke  and  Chatham  (who  never  spoke  except 
in  his  best  wig,  as  being  the  most  imposing;)  and,  above  all, 
thus  did  Lord  Byron.  The  last  three  wTere  men  eminently  in- 
teresting to  the  vulgar,  not  so  much  from  their  genius  as  their 
charlatanism."* 

In  his  work  on  "  Athens,"  Bulwer  has  some  admirable 
remarks  on  the  character  of  Pythagoras,  whom  he  calls  "  a 
demi-god  in  his  ends,  and  an  impostor  in  his  means."  "  Look- 
ing to  the  man  himself,"  says  Bulwer,  "  his  discoveries,  his 
designs,  his  genius,  his  marvellous  accomplishments,  we  cannot 
but  consider  him  as  one  of  the  most  astonishing  persons  the 
world  ever  produced ;  and  if  in  part  a  mountebank  and  an 
impostor,  no  one,  perhaps,  ever  deluded  others  with  motives 
more  pure,  from  an  ambition  more  disinterested  and  bene- 
volent."! 

Pythagoras  seems  to  have  perfectly  understood  the  impor- 
tant use  which  may  be  made  of  nrysterious  language,  of 
obscurity,  and  of  pure,  downright  nonsense  in  dealing  with 
mankind ;  and  to  have  justly  appreciated  and  turned  to  good 

*  "The  Student,"  vol.  i,  p.  4. 

f  "Athens,"  lib.  iv,  c.  17,  see.  20. 


PYAHTGORAS.  23 

account  the  popular  contempt  for  plain  and  intelligible  teach- 
ing.    The  five  years  silence  which  he  prescribed  to  his  disciples 
— most  probably  an  invention  which  he  had  taken  from  the 
Indian  Brahmins — was  certainly  the  prescription  of  a  quack. 
Pythagoras,  more  than  a  thousand  years  before   Mahomet, 
enjoyed,  if  we  are  to  believe  himself,  confidential  communica- 
tion with  beasts  and  birds ;  the  arts  of  mesmerism  he  under- 
stood more  than  two  thousand  years  before  Mesmer  was  born. 
He  persuaded  his  followers  that  he  had  a  golden  thigh ;  and 
though  Jamblichus  assures  us  that  he  showed  it  to  Abaris, 
the  Hyperborean  philosopher,  he  no  doubt  took  good  care  not 
to   make  a  curiosity  of  this  kind  a  sight  for   every   body's 
seeing.     About  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era,  many  people  in  Europe,  including  several  men  of 
learning,   believed  that  a  boy  in  Silesia  had  a  golden  tooth, 
which  had  grown  naturally  in  his  head ;  and  in  this  century, 
the  people  were  assured  on  the  testimony  of  good  witnesses 
that  a  child  was  to  be  seen  with  the  name  of  Napoleon  Buo- 
naparte written  at  full  length  round  the  ball  of  his  eye. 

Audacity  is  the  very  soul  of  the  art  of  conversion ;  it  has 
the  effect  of  fascination  on  the  multitude,  and  Pythagoras 
practised  it.  He  gained  believers  in  his  doctrine  of  the  transmi- 
gration of  souls  by  boldly  relating  the  history  of  his  own  trans- 
migrations. He  recollected,  he  said,  when  his  soul  inhabited 
the  body  of  /Ethalides,  and  also  when  he  was  Hermolitus,  the 
fisherman.  At  the  Trojan  war  he  was  Euphorbus  ;  and  in 
the  temple  of  Juno,  at  Argos,  he  pointed  to  the  shield  which 
he  bore  in  battle.*  His  followers  carried  on  his  history. 
Aulus  Gellius  has  quoted  two  ancient  writers,  Clearc  husand 
Dicearchus,  -who  say  that  Pythagoras  afterwards  appeared 
as  Pyrander,  then  as  Callicles;  and  then  as  the  beautiful  cour- 
tesan Alce.f 

*  Ovid,  "  Matam,"  lib.  xv. 

X  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  iv,  c   11,  soc.  1. 


24  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

It  seems  also,  that  while  in  this  world,  Pythagoras  either 
possessed  the  faculty  attributed  by  the  Irishman  to  the  birds  of 
being  in  two  places  at  once,  or  kept  a  shadow  of  himself,  such 
as  the  Germans  call  a  doppelganger  (about  which  kind  of 
duplicate  the  reader  will  consult  with  pleasure  Mrs.  Crowe's 
interesting  work,  "  The  Night  Side  of  Nature,")  and  that  he 
was  seen  on  the  same  day,  and  at  the  same  hour,  at  Metapon- 
tus,  and  at  the  games  of  Crotona.* 

For  the  successful  carrying  on  of  the  business  of  a  teacher 
of  mankind,  the  value  of  a  prepossessing  personal  appearance 
is  incalculable.  The  fine  figure  and  great  comeliness  of  Pythago- 
ras, which  would  justify  the  belief  in  his  divine  parentage,  were 
no  doubt  amongst  the  means  by  which  he  effected  the  good 
which  he  did  in  his  own  time,  and  by  which  he  attained  the 
great  name  which  has  but  little  decayed  for  some  five-and- 
twenty  centuries.  Some  part  of  the  influence  of  Mahomet 
may  be  attributed  to  the  same  cause,  and  there  is  a  similarity 
between  the  men,  in  so  far  as  that  while  both  could  resort  to 
fraud  and  imposture,  in  order  to  establish  and  secure  their 
intellectual  dominion  over  the  minds  of  men,  both  were,  under 
Providence,  great  benefactors  of  the  world ;  and  it  would  be 
as  uncharitable  and  unjust  to  the  Arabian  prophet,  as  it 
would  be  to  the  philosopher  of  Samos,  to  doubt  that  the  first- 
and  habitual  intentions  of  the  one  and  the  other  were  virtuous 
and  patriotic  ;  and  that  both  might  believe  that  their  missions 
were  from  heaven.  It  is  only  those  who  are  unable  to  con- 
ceive that  the  man  who,  when  driven  to  it  by  difficulties,  occa- 
sionally resorts  to  pious  frauds  and  wholesome  deceptions, 
may  at  the  same  time  be  guided  in  his  career  mainly  by  sincere 
enthusiasm  and  profound  convictions,  who  will  regard  either 
Pythagoras,  or  Mahomet,  or  any  of  the  great  teachers  of  the 
world  as  a  mere  impostor.  It  may  indeed  be  assumed  as  a 
fact  that  no  man  ever  yet  imposed  a  faith  on  a  large  portion 

*  .'Elian,  lib.  n,  c.  26  ;  and  lib.  iv,  c.  17. 


PYTHAGORAS.  25 

of  mankind,  who  was  not  himself  to  a  great  extent  a  sincere 
convert  to  his  own  revelations. 

The  heathen  writers,  Jamblichus  and  Porphyry,  are  be- 
lieved to  have  drawn  the  character  of  Pythagoras  with  the 
view  of  contrasting  it,  in  his  favor,  with  that  of  the  teacher 
of  Christianity.  On  the  other  hand,  the  early  Christian  wri- 
ters have  most  unjustly  depreciated  the  real  merits  of  Pytha- 
goras. Tertullian  civilly  calls  him  a  liar ;  and  Lactantius  de- 
scribes him  as  a  stupid  old  man,  and  one  who  talked  as  an  idle 
old  woman  would  do  to  a  set  of  credulous  children. 
2 


ASPASIA 


Aspasia,  of  Miletus,  is  the  most  celebrated  of  that  class  of 
Grecian  women  to  which  modern  times  and  Christian  nations 
do  not  furnish  any  exact  parallel ;  though  France,  in  the  reign 
of  Louis  XIV.,  produced  something  remarkably  similar  in  the 
famous  Ninon  de  l'Enclos.  The  teacher  of  Socrates,  and  the 
mistress  and  counsellor  of  Pericles,  is  said  to  have  been  beau- 
tiful; and  the  circumstance  that,  at  a  subsequent  period,  we 
find  a  Greek  woman  of  surpassing  beauty,  Milto  of  Phocis, 
assuming  her  name,  is  better  evidence  of  the  charms  of  the 
elder  Aspasia  than  the  passion  of  Pericles,  which  the  wisdom, 
the  eloquence  and  the  varied  accomplishments  of  Aspasia 
might  have  inflamed. 

In  the  collection  of  ancient  portraits  by  Gronovius,  there  is 
a  particularly  fine  bust  of  Aspasia.  She  wears  a  splendid 
helmet  and  crest,  the  front  of  the  helmet  presenting  the  fig- 
ures of  horses  coming  half  body  out,  as  in  the  sculptures  of 
the  Parthenon.  She  has  a  fine  corslet,  and  her  neck,  which  is 
left  bare,  is  encircled  with  a  necklace.  The  whole  armor, 
which  is  gorgeous,  speaks  a  woman's  love  of  finery.  In  all 
probability,  we  are  to  understand  this  to  be  Aspasia,  in  the 
character  of  Minerva;  but,  amidst  all  the  warlike  accoutre- 

(26) 


ASP  ASIA.  27 

merits,  the  picture  is  rather  that  of  a  Venus.  The  hair  is 
thick  and  long,  and  beautifully  flowing ;  the  cheeks  are  full, 
and  the  face  is  at  once  voluptuous  and  intellectual. 

Of  Aspasia's  lover,  the  accomplished  Pericles,  we  have 
only  the  vague  tradition  that  he  was  of  a  prepossessing  ap- 
pearance ;  and  it  is  mentioned  that  when  the  Athenians  began 
to  dread  his  ascendancy,  and  to  fear  that  he  was  about  to 
usurp  supreme  dominion  over  them,  they  discovered  that,  in 
his  commanding  person,  he  bore  a  striking  resemblance  to  the 
tyrant  Pisistratus. 


MILTO 


Milto,  afterwards  called  Aspacia,  from  her  resemblance,  it 
is  said,  to  the  mistress  of  Pericles,  was  the  daughter  of  Her- 
motimus  of  Phocis,  in  Ionia,  and  was  the  most  beautiful  wo- 
man of  her  time,  which  is  somewhat  later  than  that  of  her 
namesake  ;  Milto,  perhaps,  having  been  born  a  little  before  the 
elder  Aspacia  died.  We  have  a  tolerably  full  account  of  her 
history,  and  a  minute  description  of  her  person.  Her  mother 
died  in  bringing  her  into  the  world,  and  her  father,  being  a 
very  poor  man,  educated  her  with  difficulty. 

While  a  little  girl,  though  otherwise  a  great  beauty,  she  had 
a  tumor  on  her  chin,  which  occasioned  much  grief  to  herself  as 
well  as  to  her  doting  father.  A  skilful  physician  offered  to 
remove  the  tumor,  but  hft  had  the  cruelty — rare,  certainly,  in 
the  profession  to  which  he  belonged,  and  which  he  disgraced — 
to  demand  a  reward  for  the  operation,  which  the  poverty  of 
Milto's  father  made  him  unable  to  pay.  But  Milto  was  born 
to  splendor  and  greatness,  and  all  obstacles  were  doomed  to 
vanish  from  her  path.  In  the  meantime,  while  she  used  to  sit 
holding  her  little  mirror  on  her  knees,  and  mourning  deeply  at 
the  sight  of  the  deformity  which  impaired  the  perfection  of  her 
beauty,  she  was  cheered  with  dreams  in  which  she  found  her- 
self united  in  wedlock  with  a  beautiful  and  good  man. 

(28^ 


MILTO.  29 

One  night,  when,  overcome  with  grief,  she  had  gone  to  bed 
without  supper,  in  a  vision,  a  dove,  the  bird  of  Venus,  came 
to  her,  and  after  assuming  the  form  of  a  woman,  of  the  God- 
dess of  Beauty  herself,  prescribed  the  cure  that  was  successful. 
The  doubtful  remedies  of  regular  physicians  are  generally  dis- 
gusting; but  the  infallible  prescription  of  the  goddess  was 
pleasant  and  lovely.  Milto  was  directed  to  take  the  rosy  chap- 
let  of  Venus,  wThen  it  should  be  withered,  and  having  reduced 
it  to  a  powder,  to  apply  it  to  her  chin. 

iElian,  in  the  longest  chapter  of  his  amusing  work,  gives  us 
a  complete  and  minute  portrait  of  Milto.  Her  hair  was  yellow, 
the  locks  a  little  curled ;  she  had  very  large  eyes,  the  nose  a 
little  aquiline,  and  small  ears.  Her  skin  was  soft,  and  her 
complexion  approached  to  the  rosy,  on  account  of  wThich,  when 
a  child,  she  was  called  Milto.  Her  lips,  as  a  matter  of  course, 
were  red;  and,  equally  as  a  matter  of  course,  her  teeth  wrere 
whiter  than  the  snow.  Her  feet  and  legs  were  handsome,  and 
she  was  what  Homer  calls  *aa.K%>pos,  "having  beautiful  ankles." 
Her  voice  was  sweet  and  tender,  so  that  when  she  spoke,  you 
would  have  thought  that  you  listened  to  a  syren.  She  used 
no  curious  or  superfluous  female  ornaments,  it  being  expressly 
mentioned  that  she  was  "  beautiful  without  paint." 

When  she  was  brought  before  Cyrus,  the  other  beauties  of 
the  court  had  their  hair  adorned  and  their  faces  painted ;  and 
according  to  the  fine  expression  which  ^Elian  puts  into  the 
mouth  of  the  Persian  prince,  they  were  even  more  deceptive 
in  their  manners  than  in  their  faces.  The  elevation  of  Milto 
to  be  the  favorite  of  Cyrus,  was  the  accomplishment  of  her 
visions ;  and  it  was  from  him  that  she  received  the  name  of 
Aspasia,  by  which  she  is  best  known  in  history. 

In  the  portrait  of  Aspasia  we  have  an  embodiment  of  almost 
all  those  features  which  went  to  constitute  beauty  accord- 
ing to  the  notions  of  the  ancients,  and  according  to  the  taste 
which  has  generally  prevailed  in  Europe  in  all  ages.     Yeliow 


30  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

hair — it  is  a  palish  flaxen  yellow  that  has  been  most  adored — 
and  large  eyes  are  ingredients  in  almost  every  picture  of  a 
beauty,  whether  the  person  be  historical  or  imaginary.  The 
large  eyes  of  Helen  of  Troy  are  celebrated  in  every  descrip- 
tion of  her  person  which  has  come  down  to  us.  Juvenal  men- 
tions as  one  of  the  inroads  which  old  age  makes  on  beauty, 
that,  with  the  lapse  of  years,  the  eyes  grow  smaller.*  In  the 
"  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainments,"  the  Vizier's  daughter 
describes  her  beloved  Bedreddin  Hassan  as  "  the  young  man 
who  has  large  eyes  and  black  eyebrows."  The  hair  of  Aspa- 
sia  was  a  little  curled.  This  is  that  crisped  hair,  "  the  smiling 
locks"  {crines  ridentes)  of  the  Romans,  to  which  there  are  so 
many  allusions  in  the  poets.  This  is  the  hair  universally  at- 
tributed to  Helen  of  Troy.  It  was  the  hair  of  the  Beatrice 
of  Dante — 

"Io  miro  i  crespi  e  gli  biondi  capegli," 

the  poet  says  in  one  of  his  canzoni ;  and  in  another  he  speaks 
of  the  fair  locks  which  Love,  to  consume  him,  had  gilded  and 
curled — 

"Biondi  capelli  » 

Ch'  amor  per  consumarmi  increspa  e  dora.*' 

Small  ears  and  elegant  ankles  have  been  in  general  request; 
and  there  are  men  whose  criticism  on  female  beauty  goes  no 
farther  than  the  ankles.  The  aquiline  nose,  while  it  is  consid- 
ered appropriate  in  the  face  of  a  military  commander,  is  not 
so  decidedly  according  to  orthodox  taste  in  women's  faces ; 
but  it  is  to  be  observed  that  ^Elian  has  qualified  the  descrip- 
tion to  "  slightly  aquiline"  (ojuyov  ftftyptitfoj.)  I  am  not  sure 
what  is  the  true  meaning  of  the  expression  in  Petronius,  in  his 
exquisite  description  of  Circe,  where  he  speaks  of  her  nares 

*  Juvenal,  "  Sat."  lib.  vi,  144. 


MILTO  31 

paululum  inflexce,  which  has  generally  been  understood  to  mean 
that  her  nose  was  rather  aquiline.* 

Kuhnius,  the  editor  of  iElian,  has  a  good  note  on  the 
description  of  Aspasia's  nose.  The  Persians,  he  remarks, 
amongst  whom  Aspasia  had  come,  thought  the  aquiline  nose 
beautiful,  and  the  token  of  a  generous  mind,  because  Cyrus, 
the  founder  of  their  monarchy,  was  born  with  a  hooked  nose 
(ypvftos).  The  ouyop,  "  a  little,"  is  however,  he  says,  well  added, 
as  a  crooked  nose  is  considered  base  by  the  admirers  of 
female  beauty ;  as  in  Terence  we  read :  "  Shall  I  marry  that  red 
young  woman  with  grey  eyes,  a  wide  mouth,  and  a  crooked 
nose  ?     Father,  I  cannot." 

*  Petronius,  "  Satyricon,"  p.  96.    Paris,  1601. 


AGESILAUS. 


The  ancient  Spartans  paid  as  much  attention  to  the  rearing 
of  men  as  the  cattle-breeders  in  modern  England  do  to  the 
breeding  of  cattle.  They  took  charge  of  the  firmness  and 
looseness  of  men's  flesh,  and  regulated  the  degree  of  fatness 
to  which  it  was  lawful,  in  a  free  state,  for  any  citizen  to  ex- 
tend his  body.  Those  who  dared  to  grow  too  soft  or  too  fat 
for  military  exercise  and  the  service  of  Sparta,  were  soundly 
whipped.  In  one  particular  instance,  that  of  Nauclis,  the  son 
of  Polybus,  the  offender  was  brought  before  the  Ephori  and  a 
meeting  of  the  whole  people  of  Sparta,  at  which  his  unlawful 
fatness  was  publicly  exposed,  and  he  was  threatened  with  per- 
petual banishment  if  he  did  not  bring  his  body  within  the  reg- 
ular Spartan  compass,  and  give  up  his  culpable  mode  of  liv- 
ing, which  was  declared  to  be  more  worthy  of  an  Ionian  than 
of  a  eon  of  Lacedemon.* 

In  the  same  spirit,  the  Spartans  imposed  a  fine  on  their 
king,  Archidamus,  for  having  married  the  little  Eumolpa,  to 
the  probable  lowering  of  the  stature  of  the  royal  family.  That 
little  woman  became  the  mother  of  little  Agesilaus,  and  if  her 
memory  must  suffer  for  having  given  birth  to  a  son,  in  point 

"jElian,  xiv,  c.  7. 

(32) 


AGESILAUS.  33 

of  height  unworthy  of  stalwart  Sparta,  to  her  we  must  award 
the  nobler  praise — if  it  be  true,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  it  is,  that  the  moral  and  intellectual  qualities  of  men  are 
derived  from  their  mothers — of  having  given  to  her  country 
one  of  its  greatest  heroes,  and  one  of  the  most  accomplished 
and  amiable  men  in  the  story  of  Lacedemon. 

Agesilaus,  in  addition  to  his  small  stature,  was  lame  of  one 
leg,  and  some  accounts  bear  that  he  was  otherwise  deformed, 
and  that  his  features  were  disagreeable.  Piutarch,  however, 
is  probably  right  when  he  tells  us  that  the  defect  of  his  lame- 
ness was  compensated  by  the  agreeableness  of  the  rest  of  his 
person.  We  must  presume  also  that  his  constitution  was 
good,  as  he  was  capable  of  enduring  all  the  fatigues  of  Spar- 
tan warfare  and  the  hardships  of  Spartan  diet,  and  yet  lived 
to  the  age  of  eighty-four,  a  period  of  life  rarely  attained  by 
those  who  undergo  severe  bodily  exercise  and  live  sparingly. 

Plutarch  tells  us  that  there  was  no  portrait  nor  statue  of 
Agesilaus,  and  that  he  would  not  allow  one  to  be  made.  The 
real  motive  for  this  might  be  a  Spartan  abhorrence  of  refine- 
ment. We  find  that  Plotinus,  the  Platonic  philosopher,  would 
not  yield  to  the  wishes  of  his  disciples  to  sit  for  his  portrait  • 
and  a  much  better  man,  Montesquieu,  showed  a  similar  aver- 
sion to  having  his  likeness  taken.  M.  de  la  Tour  was  ex- 
tremely desirous  of  having  the  honor  of  making  a  portrait  of 
his  illustrious  countryman,  but  failed  in  persuading  him  to  give 
him  the  necessary  sittings. 

In  the  year  1752,  Dassier,  the  celebrated  medallist,  was 
sent  from  London  to  Paris,  to  make  a  medallion  portrait  of 
the  President.  He  for  some  time  met  with  nothing  but  refu- 
sals on  the  part  of  Montesquieu,  till  at  last  he  said  :  "Do  you 
not  think  that  there  is  as  much  pride  in  refusing  my  proposal 
as  there  would  be  in  accepting  it,?"  Montesquieu's  delicacy 
was  overcome,  and  the  medallion  was  made.* 

*  D'Alembert,  "Eloge  de  Montesquieu." 
2* 


34  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Amongst  great  men  who  would  not  allow  their  portraits  to 
be  drawn,  we  must  reckon  St.  Francis  Borgia.  At  different 
times  attempts  were  made  to  take  his  likeness,  but  he  reso- 
lutely refused  to  afford  any  sittings  to  the  artists  sent  to  him  . 
for  that  purpose.  A  picture  of  him  by  Velasquez  is  mention- 
ed by  Mrs.  Jameson ;  and  there  are  various  engravings  which 
represent  him  as  a  lean-faced  man,  with  a  long  aquiline  nose, 
With  more  true  wisdom  and  with  more  kindness  for  posterity, 
some  of  the  most  famous  saints  have  allowed  their  portraits  to 
be  transmitted  to  our  day.  "We  have  the  genuine,  fat  figure 
of  St.  Theresa,  and  the  gentle  beauty  of  St.  Francis  of  Sales. 
And  what  Christian  is  not  delighted  at  contemplating  the  por- 
trait of  the  blessed  St.  Catharine  of  Sienna,  from  the  pencil 
of  her  friend  and  admirer,  the  painter  Andrea  Vanni  ? 

The  moral  portrait  of  Agesilaus  is  that  of  a  man  of  heroic 
spirit,  of  great  abilities,  and  vast  perseverance,  with  much  hu- 
manity, admirable  good  temper,  and  a  cheerful  disposition. 
He  warded  off  all  jokes  about  his  person  by  anticipating  and 
making  them  himself.  He  is  endeared  to  most  readers  by  the 
anecdote  related  of  him  by  iElian,  who  tells  us  that,  on  being 
found  by  a  friend  riding  on  a  stick,  to  amuse  his  son,  he  bade 
his  visitor  not  speak  about  it  till  he  was  a  father  himself.*  A 
similar  story  is  told  of  Socrates,!  and  in  modern  times  of  one 
of  the  kings  of  France. 

*   iElian,  lib.  xh,  c.  15. 

f  Valerius  Maximus,  lib.  vni,  c.  8. 


SOCRATES. 


Sculpture  has  preserved  to  us  that  repulsive  cast  of  features 
from  which'  the  physiognomist  Zopyrus  pronounced  that  So- 
crates was  a  man  addicted  to  many  vices,  a  judgment  which 
drew  from  the  Athenian  philosopher  that  admirable  observa- 
tion, that  he  was  indeed  inclined  to  these  vices,  but  had  cor- 
rected his  evil  propensities  by  reason.  What  makes  this  anec- 
dote the  more  interesting  is,  that  we  know  that  Socrates  was 
one  of  those  who  held  that  the  outward  comeliness  of  the  per- 
son was  an  evidence  of  the  inward  beauty  of  the  soul. 

Socrates  in  the  first  place  was  bald,  and  the  ancients  held 
baldness  of  itself  to  constitute  ugliness.  Agathocles,  the 
tyrant  of  Syracuse,  who  according  to  JElian,  had  "  a  most 
ridiculous  and  base  head,"  out  of  which  the  hair  fell  by  little 
and  little,  was  so  ashamed  of  his  baldness,  that  he  wore  a  myr- 
tle crown  to  conceal  it*  We  know  also  that  of  all  the  honors 
conferred  upon  him,  there  was  none  that  Caesar  accepted  more 
gratefully  than  the  right  of  wearing  the  laurel-crown  which 
concealed  his  baldness.t  With  the  ancients,  baldness  had  a 
moral  repulsiveness  about  it,  as  it  was  associated  in  their  ideas 

*  JElian,  xi,  c.  4. 

t  Suetonius,  "Julius,"  c.  45. 

(35) 


36  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

with  licentiousness  of  life;  and  the  Eoman  soldiers,  who 
gibed  at  Caesar  in  the  midst  of  his  Gallic  triumph,  took  care 
not  to  lose  sight  of  this  connexion.  Amongst  the  other 
effects  of  his  increasing  years,  Tacitus  represents  Tiberius  as 
ashamed  of  his  baldness.*  He  occasionally  wore  a  crown  of 
laurel  on  his  head,  but  this  was  to  protect  him  from  the 
lightning.!  Domitian  also,  who  had  higher  pretensions  to 
personal  beauty,  could  not  suffer  any  allusion  to  be  made  to 
his  baldness  ;  but  he  might  be  the  more  concerned  about  the 
loss  of  his  locks,  as  he  had  written  a  treatise  on  the  care  of  the 
hair.j  The  history  of  Elisha,  mocked  by  the  children,  teaches 
us  that-the  prejudice  is  of  extreme  antiquity. 

In  addition  to  his  baldness,  Socrates  had  a  dark  complexion, 
a  flat  nose,  protuberant  eyes,  and  an  ungracious  expression. 
His  health  and  his  strength,  however,  were  good.  He  served 
as  a  soldier  in  his  country's  wars ;  and  in  marching  and  en- 
during the  fatigues  of  military  discipline,  was  without  a  rival. 
He  could  also  suffer  well  both  hunger  and  thirst ;  and  when  the 
time  for  fasting  was  past,  and  the  time  for  feasting  arrived,  he 
was  rioted  for  being  able  to  hold  a  larger  quantity  of  drink 
than  any  of  his  comrades  without  being  the  worse  of  it.|| 
As  the  wisest  of  the  ancients  believed  occasional  debauches 
to  be  commendable,  the  capacity  for  enduring  them  was  re- 
garded as  a  valuable  accomplishment.  So  also  in  Christian 
times,  thought  Montaigne.  In  his  remarks  on  education,  ad- 
dressed to  Madame  Diane  de  Foix,  Countess  of  Gurson,  and 
intended  for  the  benefit  of  the  child  with  which  the  Countess 
was  then  pregnant,  and  which  Montaigne  assured  her  would 
be  a  boy,  as-u  you  are  too  generous  not  to  commence  with  a 
male;'"!  he  recommends  that  his  pupil  should  be  taught  to 
stand  drink  well. 

*  Annates  iv,  c.  57  t  Suetonius,  "  Tiberius,"  c.  69. 

X  Suetonius,  "Domitian,*'  c   18.     ||  Plutarch,  "  Symposium." 
H  Montaigne,    "  Essais,'   lib.  i,  c.  19.     Paris,  1  Go 7. 


SOCEATES.  37 

"  I  wish,"  tie  says,  "  that  even  in  debauchery  he  should  sur- 
pass his  companions  in  vigor  and  firmness ;  and  that  he  do  not 
forego  the  doing  evil  either  from  want  of  power  or  of  science, 
but  from  want  of  will."  This  ability  for  hard  drinking,  Mon- 
taigne thought  absolutely  necessary  for  great  statesmen.  Pitt, 
with  his  vast  capacity  for  port,  would  have  been  a  minister  of 
state  quite  to  his  mind. 

Socrates  learned  to  play  on  the  pipe  in  his  old  age ;  he  also 
got  himself  taught  singing,  and  danced  every  day.  "  He  was 
not  ashamed,"  says  Seneca,  "  to  divert  himself  with  children, 
and  was  found  one  day  by  Alcibiades  riding  on  a  stick  to 
amuse  his  boys." 

A  great  deal  of  nonsense  has  been  spoken  by  Coleridge  and 
others  about  the  profound  philosophy,  morality,  and  religion 
of  Rabelais ;  but  he  certainly  was  a  ripe  scholar,  and  from 
him  I  shall  borrow  what  I  consider  to  be  the  best  picture  of 
the  character  of  Socrates — including  a  sketch  of  his  person — 
that  I  have  anywhere  seen.  It  is,"  in  fact,  an  able  digest  of 
what' the  Cure  of  Meudon  must  have  gathered  from  an  en 
larged  acquaintance  with  all  that  has  been  recorded  of  Socra- 
tes. The  reader  may  take  it  either  in  the  unrivalled  English 
of  Sir  Thomas  "Orchard,  or  in  the  original  of  Rabelais,  which 
I  give  in  a  note.  Rabelais  has  described  one  of  those  boxes 
in  the  apothecary's  shop  with  ugly  figures  on  the  outside,  but 
filled  within  with  precious  drugs,  and  he  goes  on  :  "■  Just  such 
another  thing  was  Socrates,  for  to  have  eyed  his  outside,  and 
esteemed  of  him  by  his  exterior  appearance,  you  would  not 
have  given  the  peel  of  an  onion  for  him,  so  deformed  was  he 
in  his  body,  and  ridiculous  in  his  gesture ;  he  had  a  sharp- 
pointed  nose,  with  the  look  of  a  bull,  and  countenance  of  a 
fool ;  he  was  in  his  carriage  simple,  boorish  in  his  apparel,  in 
fortune  poor,  unhappy  in  his  wives,  unfit  for  all  offices  in  the 
state  (this  last  statement,  with  Rabelais'  leave,  is  a  mistake, 
and  a  very  great  mistake  indeed,) always  laughing,  tippling,  and 


38  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

merry  carousing  to  every  one  with  continual  jibes  and  jeers, 
the  better  by  these  means  to  conceal  his  divine  knowledge. 
Now  opening  this  box,  you  would  have  found  within  it  a 
heavenly  and  inestimable  drug,  a  more  than  human  under- 
standing, an  admirable  virtue,  matchless  learning,  invincible 
courage,  inimitable  sobriety,  certain  contentment  of  mind, 
perfect  assurance,  and  an  incredible  misregard  of  all 
that,  for  which  men  commonly  do  so  much  watch,  run,  sail, 
fight,  travel,  toil  and  turmoil  themselves."* 

*  The  Works  of  F.  Rabelais,  M.  D.,  done  out  of  French  by  Sir  Thos. 
Urchard.  Kt.,  and  others.  London,  1694  :  "Tel  disoit  estre  Socrates; 
par  ce  que,  le  Toy  ant  au  dehors,  et  l'exteriore  apparence,  n'en  eussiez 
donne  ung  coupeau  d'oignon,  tant  laid  il  estoit  de  corps,  et  ridicule  en 
son  maintien,  le  nez  poinctu,  le  reguard  d'ung  taureau,  lo  visaige  d'ung 
fol,  simple  en  meurs,  rusticq  en  vestimens,  paoure  de  fortune,  infortune 
en  femmes,  inepte  a  tous  offices  de  la  republicque,  tousiours  riant,  tousi- 
ours  beuuant  daultant  a  ung  chascun,  tousiours  se  gaubelant,  tousiours 
dissimulant  son  diuin  sgauor.  Mais  ouurans  ceste  boyte,  eussiez  au  de- 
dans trouue  une  celeste  et  impreciable  drogue,  entendement  plus  que  hu- 
rnain,  vertus  merueilleuses,  couraige  invincible,  sobresse  nonpareille,  con- 
tentement  certain,  asseurance  parfaicte,  deprisement  incroyable  de  tout 
ce  pourquoy  les  humains,  tant  veiglent,  courent,  trauaillent,  nauigent,  et 
bataillent." — CEuvres  de  F.  Ra.eela.is,  p.  2.    Paris,  18L5. 


PLATO. 


Plato,  who  according  to  the  superstitious  belief  of  his 
times,  was  the  son  of  Apollo,  was  a  tall  and  handsome  man. 
His  name,  he  is  said  to  have  derived  from  his  broad  shoul- 
ders. He  had  a  protuberance  at  the  back  of  his  head.  He 
was  of  a  grave  countenance,  and  laughed  but  seldom.  He 
had  a  shrill  but  pleasing  voice.  He  was  temperate  in  sleeping, 
eating  and  drinking,  but  approved  of  occasional  intoxication. 
The  belief  of  the  medical  faculty  for  more  than  two  thousand 
years  was,  that  an  occasional  debauch  promoted  good  health ; 
all  the  great  physicians  of  the  middle  ages  insisted  on  their 
patients  getting  drunk  once  a  month.  Plato  lived  in  good 
health  to  the  age  of  eighty-four.  He  excelled  in  all  the  Gre- 
cian exercises,  having  studied  wrestling  under  Aristo  the  Ar- 
give.  He  also  applied  himself  to  poetry  and  painting.  Being 
a  man  of  wealth,  he  used  a  decent  splendor  in  his  whole  style 
of  living,  and  did  not  think  the  use  of  gold  and  silver  plate 
unbecoming  a  philosopher.  He  dressed  genteelly,  but  reproved 
the  effeminacy  and  vain  adornings  of  Aristotle,  as  much  as  he 
did  the  proud  sordidness  of  Diogenes.  Notwithstanding  the 
dreamy  nature  of  many  of  his  speculations,  Plato  was  a  man 
of  the  world,  had  the  art  of  pleasing  in  conversation,  and  took 

(39) 


40  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

particular  care  not  to  annoy  his  company  by  the  introduction 
of  philosophical  discussions. 

The  description  left  us  of  Aristotle  is,  that  he  was  a  man  of 
slender  form,  with  spindle  shanks  and  small  eyes.  He  had  a 
shrill  voice,  and  stammered  in  his  speech.*  Diogenes  Laer- 
tius,  who  tells  us  these  things,  as  well  as  most  of  the  particu- 
lars which  I  have  gathered  of  Plato,  quotes  the  authority  of 
Timotheus,  the  Athenian,  for  the  fact  that  Aristotle  hesitated 
in  his  speech,  and  the  circumstance  is  also  mentioned  by  Plu- 
tarch. He  delighted  in  rich  apparel,  wore  a  number  of  rings 
on  his  fingers,  and  was  particular  in  shaving,  and  in  trimming 
his  hair.  In  the  ornamenting  his  person,  he  did  not  neglect 
his  shoes,  which  were  adorned  with  precious  materials.  He 
was  much  addicted  to  talking,  and  had  a  sneering  and  fault- 
finding expression  in  his  face.f 

Such  is  the  portrait  of  him  whom  Southey  calls  "  the  most 
sagacious  man  whom  the  w7orld  has  yet  produced."  No  man 
certainly  has  ever  lived  whose  writings,  real  or  supposed,  have 
exercised  so  tyrannical  an  authority  over  mankind.  His  repu- 
tation gathered  strength  for  at  least  eighteen  hundred  years 
after  his  death  ;  and  during  fifteen  centuries  of  Christianity 
his  word,  with  the  learned,  held  divided  empire  with  the  Gos- 
pel itself. 

Amongst  great  men,  who  more  or  less  delighted  in  magnifi- 
cence, are  enumerated,  besides  Aristotle,  Pythagoras,  Plato, 
and  Aristippus,  Demosthenes  the  Athenian  orator,  and  Hor- 
tensius  the  Roman.  Both  Demosthenes  and  Hortensius  sub- 
jected themselves  to  the  ridicule  and  censure  of  their  contem- 
poraries for  their  excessive  attention  to  elegance  in  dress.J 
Parrhasius,  the  painter,  delighted  in  the  adornment  of  his  per- 

*  Diogenes  Laeitius,  lib.  v,  c.  1,  sec.  2. 

t  JElian,  lib.  in.  c.  19. 

%  Aulus  Gellius,  lib   i,  c.  5. 


PLATO.  41 

son,  and  called  himself  AffpoSicutoj— the  delicate,  the  elegant. 
He  wore  a  purple  robe,  and  a  golden  crown  on  his  head.*  He 
had  a  staff  encircled  with  golden  rings,  and  wore  golden 
clasps  in  his  shoes. 

Amongst  military  men,  we  find  that  Xenophon's  love  of 
beauty  in  every  thing  made  him  select  the  most  splendid 
armor,  the  Argotic  shield,  the  Attic  corselet,  the  helmet  of 
Bceotia,  and  the  horse  of  Epidaurus.  He  tells  us  himself  that 
he  was  "  most  elegantly  adorned  for  war."f  Xenophon,  who, 
it  may  be  remarked,  was  distinguished  by  great  personal 
beauty,  used  to  say  that  if  he  conquered  the  enemy,  he  was 
worthy  of  the  most  splendid  adorning ;  and  if  he  lost  his  life 
in  battle,  he  wTould  appear  with  grace  in  magnificent  armor. 
The  horse  of  Epidaurus  alluded  to,  Xenophon  was  once  oblig- 
ed to  sell  at  Lampsacus ;  but  his  friends,  finding  how  much 
he  valued  him,  bought  him  again,  and  made  a  present  of  him 
to  the  general. J  Hannibal  also  delighted  in  splendid  armor, 
and  in  fine  horses.  Montaigne  mentions  Alexander,  Caesar, 
and  Lucullus,  as  generals  who  loved  to  distinguish  themselves 
in  battle  by  rich  armor,  and  accoutrements  of  a  shining  and 
conspicuous  color. § 

Agis,  Agesilaus,  and  Philip  the  Great,  Montaigne  enumer- 
ates amongst  those  who  went  to  battle  obscurely  dressed,  and 
without  any  imperial  array.  Agesilaus,  indeed,  and  Epami- 
nondas  affected  an  extreme  poverty  in  their  dress.  In  his  old 
age,  Agesilaus  went  bare-footed,  even  in  winter.  j|  Epami 
nondas,  otherwise  a  man  of  elegant  tastes,  had  but  one  poor 
garment,  and  was  obliged  to  keep  the  house  whenever  he 
put  it  to  the  fuller  to  get  the  dirt  taken  out  of  it. IF 

*  iElian,  lib.  m,  c.  24. 

f  Xenophon,  "  Anabasis,''  lib.  111. 

^  "  Anabasis,"  lib.  vu. 

()  «  Essais,"  lib.  1,  c.  47. 

||  ./Elian,  lib.  vu.  c.  13. 

II  iElian,  lib.  v,  c.  5. 


42  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Amongst  great  men  in  modern  times  who  have  indulged  in 
magnificent  dress  and  ornaments,  the  most  illustrious  are 
Kaleigh,  Buffon,  and  Haydn. 

Charles  of  Sweden  in  his  taste  imitated  Agesilaus  ;  Murat 
was  a  warrior  like  Xenophon. 


ALCIBIADES 


All  historians  agree  that  the  accomplished  Alcibiades  was 
by  far  the  most  handsome  man  of  his  age.  On  account  of  his 
beauty,  says  Xenophon,  who  knew  him  personally,  he  was 
"  hunted"  by  many  honorable  women.*  The  strong  expres- 
sion of  Xenophon  (©^pu^tvoj,)  which  is  taken  from  the  chase,  I 
have  translated  literally.  In  ambiability  of  character  and 
beauty  of  person,  says  ^Elian,  Alcibiades  was  chief  amongst 
the  Greeks,  and  Scipio  amongst  the  Romans.f  Of  beautiful 
persons,  Lord  Bacon  says,  that  "  they  prove  accomplished, 
but  not  of  great  spirit,  and  study  behavior  rather  than  virtue. 
But  this  holds  not  always  ;  for  Augustus  Caesar,  Titus  Yes- 
pasianus,  Phillip  le  Bel  of  France,  Edward  IV.  of  England, 
Alcibiades  of  Athens,  and  Ismael  the  Sophi  of  Persia,  were 
all  high  and  great  spirits,  and  yet  the  most  beautiful  men  of 
their  times."  This  list  might  easily  be  amplified.  It  wants 
Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  who  was  beautiful  beyond  description ; 
but  its  great  defect  is  the  omission  of  Alexander  the  Great, 
the  most  warlike  of  mortals. 

"  The  beauty  of  Alcibiades,"  says  Plutarch,  "  continued 

*  Xenophon,  "  Memorabilia  Socratis,"  lib.  i,  c.  2,  sec.  24. 
t  Lilian,  lib.  xn,  c.  14. 

(43) 


44  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

with  him  through  all  the  stages  of  childhood,  youth,  and  man- 
hood." He  caused  himself  to  be  painted  lying  in  the  lap  of 
the  courtesan  Nemea.  Plato  notices  the  loose  flowing  robe, 
which,  after  the  fashion  of  the  men  of  pleasure  of  these  times, 
characterised  Alcibiades.  The  ancients — the  men  at  least — 
appear  to  have  valued  personal  beauty  more  than  the  moderns 
do,  and  took  greater  pains  in  preserving  it.  Plutarch  tells  us 
that  in  learning  music,  Alcibiades  chose  the  lyre,  for  its  grace- 
fulness. When  he  lived  with  his  uncle  Pericles,  his  tutor,  An- 
tigenis,  attempted  to  teach  him  to. play  on  the  pipe;  but  when 
he  looked  at  his  face  in  the  mirror,  as  he  used  the  instrument, 
he  dashed  it  on  the  ground,  and  broke  it  in  pieces.  The  boy 
Alcibiades  then  led  the  fashion  in  everything ;  and  the  Athe- 
nians, when  the  story  got  abroad,  gave  up  with  one  consent 
the  use  of  the  pipe.*  Alcibiades,  it  has  been  farther  said,  ob- 
jected to  the  pipe  because  he  could  not  accompany  it  with  his 
voice.  I  have  noticed  before  that  Pythagoras  had  chosen  the 
lyre  in  preference  to  the  pipe,  most  probably  for  similar  rea- 
sons ;  and  there  is  a  strong  resemblance  between  the  anecdote 
of  Alcibiades  and  the  mythological  story  related  by  Ovid, 
which  tells  us  that  when  Minerva,  as  she  played  on  the  pipe, 
looked  into  a  fountain,  and  noticed  the  ungraceful  swelling  of 
her  cheeks,  she  threw  away  the  instrument  in  disgust.f 

The  importance  attached  by  the  ancients  to  the  cultivation 
of  music  as  a  means  of  social  improvement,  appears  ludicrous 
to  modern  readers.  The  philosophic  Montesquieu  has  devoted 
a  chapter  of  his  great  work  to  discussing  their  theories  on 
this  subject4  In  his  work  on  politics,  Aristotle  tells  us  that 
at  the  close  of  the  Peloponnesian  war,  there  was  scarcely  a 
freeborn  Athenian  unacquainted  with  the  flute.  || 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  xv,  c.  17.  "f  "  Ars.  Araat."  lib.  in. 

1  "  Esprit  des  loix,"  lib.  iv,  c.  8.  ||  "  Politica,"  lib.  vm,  c.  6. 


ALCIBIADES.  45 

From  Plutarch,  who  quotes  contemporary  authority,  we 
learn  that  Alcibiades  had  a  lisp  in  his  speech  "  which  became 
him  and  gave  a  grace  to  his  discourse."  The  fact  is  estab- 
lished by  some  lines,  which  Plutarch  quotes  from  Archippus, 
a  poet  of  the  times,  who  ridicules  a  son  of  Alcibiades,  for  im- 
itating the  sauntering  step,  the  loose  robe,  the  lisp,  and  the 
bent  neck  of  his  father.  With  regard  to  the  effect  of  a  lisp 
in  the  speech,  opinions  both  in  ancient  and  in  modern  times 
have  been  very  favorable.  Ovid  alludes  to  those  women  who, 
by  lisping,  have  found  in  their  imperfection  a  charm  to  catch 
mankind.*  In  popular  belief,  lisping  in  a  woman  is  thought 
to  be  characteristic  of  a  disposition  to  love.  Thus,  in  Ford's 
"  Lady's  Trial,"  (Act  iv.  so.  2.) 

Amorette.     I  do  not  uthe 
To  thpend  lip  labor  upon  quethionths 
That  I  mythelf  can  anthwer. 

Futelli.     No,  sweet  madame, 
Your  lips  are  destined  to  a  better  use, 
Or  else  the  proverb  fails  of  lisping  maids. 

Amorette.     Kithing,  you  mean. 

And  the  chorus  of  the  song  which  is  sung  after  this  is, 

*'  None  kithethlike  the  lithping  lath." 

In  the  other  sex  we  see  from  other  instances  than  this  of 
Alcibiades,  that  this  imperfect  elocution  has  been  admired. 
Thus,  Chaucer  tells  us  of  the  friar, 

"  Somewhat  he  lisped  for  his  wantonnesse, 
To  make  his  English  sweet  upon  his  tongue." 

And  Barbour,  the  Scottish  poetical  historian,. speaking  of 
*  M  Ars.  Amat  "  lib.  in. 


46  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

the  good  Sir  James  Douglas,  says  that  "  he  lisped  like  Hector 
of  Troy,"  and  that  his  lisping  became  him  remarkably  well. 
In  more  recent  times,  we  learn  of  the  Lord  Keeper  Coventry, 
from  an  account  published  by  Lodge,  in  bis  "  Portraits  of 
Illustrious  Persons  of  Great  Britain,"  from  a  manuscript  in  the 
Sloane  Collection,  that  "  he  was  of  a  very  fine  and  grave  elo- 
cution, in  a  kinde  of  gracefull  lisping ;  so  that  where  nature 
might  seeme  to  cast  something  of  imperfection  on  his  speech, 
on  due  examination,  she  added  a  grace  to  the  perfection  of  his 
delivery." 

That  Hector  lisped,  Barbour,  in  all  probability,  learned  from 
the  spurious  work  on  the  destruction  of  Troy,  attributed  to 
Dares  the  Phrygian.  This  book,  which  is  now  utterly  des- 
pised, was  held  to  be  genuine,  and  was  highly  admired  in  Bar- 
bour's time,  and  is  quoted  in  his  poem.  It  contains  personal 
descriptions  of  most  of  the  men  and  women  connected  with 
the  Trojan  war.  Of  Hector,  we  are  told  that  he  was  "  lisp- 
ing fair-haired,  crisp,  quinting,  swift  of  limb,  of  a  venerable  coun- 
tenance, bearded,  comely,  great  of  mind,  gracious  to  the  peo- 
ple, worthy  of  and  fit  for  love."* 

Barbour,  it  may  be  remarked,  declares  that  Hector,  like  Sir 
James  Douglas,  had  black  hair.  Dares  says  he  was  fair ;  for, 
from  the  context,  it  is  pretty  clear  that  the  term  candidum 
refers  to  his  hair. 

It  would  thus  appear  that,  along  with  the  general  tradition 
of  Hector's  comeliness  and  his  lisp,  and  his  proverbial  accep- 
tability to  the  other  sex,  there  is  a  fame  that  he  squinted.  So 
did  George  "Whitefield  and  Edward  Irving,  both  of  whom 
were  favorites  with  the  fair,  the  latter  being  called  "  the  ador- 
able Edward  Irving." 

Descartes  admired  a  squint,  one  story  being  that  a  woman 
with  whom  he  was  in  love  looked  at  him  obliquely ;  while 

*  "Dares  Phrygius,  "  De  ExcidoTrojoe,"p.  170.    Amst.  1631. 


ALCIBIADES.  47 

another  version,  which  is  adopted  by  Southey,  is  that  this  par- 
tiality arose  from  his  associating  a  squint  with  the  recollection 
of  the  eyes  of  a  kind  nurse.  There  is  a  recent  case  which 
took  place  in  Paris,  in  1842,  which  is  deserving  of  attention, 
and  which  may  be  a  lesson  to  those  who  are  not  content  with 
the  eyes  •which  heaven  has  given  them.  A  young  woman  was 
about  to  be  married  to  a  man  with  whom  she  was  deeply  in 
love,  he  squinting  most  unmistakeably.  At  that  time  the 
operation  of  strabism  was  much  in  vogue,  and  the  thoughtless 
lover  imagined  that  by  its  means  he  would  get  rid  of  what  he 
regarded  as  a  blemish  in  his  countenance.  "Without  letting 
his  mistress  know  his  intention,  he  got  the  defect  entirely 
removed,  and  fancied  that  he  would  now  appear  with  increased 
favor  in  her  eyes. 

On  his  next  meeting  with  her,  however,  she  uttered  a  cry 
of  alarm,  and  in  spite  of  all  explanations,  refused  to  receive  as 
her  husband  him  whom  she  had  loved  and  chosen  under  quite 
a  diiferent  aspect.*  The  marriage  was  broken  off;  the  sepa- 
ration was  for  ever,  the  lady  contenting  ^herself  with  cherish- 
ing in  her  own  soul  the  squinting  object  of  her  young  affec- 
tions. 

The  philosophy  of  all  this  is  very  intricate.  Where  the 
person  or  the  mind  is  on  the  whole  agreeable,  peculiarities 
which  abstractly  would  be  reckoned  defects,  by  appearing  as 
parts  of  the  whole,  come,  by  a  natural  association  of  ideas,  to 
be  regarded  as  constituent  beauties.  Thus  we  find  persons 
endowed  with  a  graceful  lameness  who  would  be  quite  spoiled 
if  their  legs  were  made  equal,  and  others  who  would  be  dis- 
figured if  they  were  to  recover  a  lost  eye. 

Anne  of  Brittany,  the  wife  of  Charles  VIII.  of  France,  and 
the  Princess  of  Conde,  were  beauties  who  moved  gracefully 

*  Roussel,  "  Systeme  Physique  et  Morale  de  la  Femme,"  (Note  by 
M.  Cerise,)  p.  131.    Paris.  1813. 


48  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

through  the  world  with  one  leg  shorter  than  the  other. 
Catherine  des  Jardins,  (now  nearly  forgotten  as  a  writer  of 
poetry  and  dramas,)  though  strongly  marked  by  small-pox, 
had  personal  charms  enough  to  gee  for  herself  three  husbands 
and  a  great  many  lovers  beside. 

Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere,  the  most  amiable  of  Louis 
XIV.'s  mistresses,  has  by  recent  writers  generally  been 
described  as  a  beauty,  notwithstanding  her  admitted  lameness. 
But  this  is  a  mistake.  Louis  did  not  confine  his  admiration 
of  the  sex  to  those  of  them  who  had  beauty  to  attract  him. 
His  first  mistress,  Mademoiselle  de  Mancini,  was  allowed  to  be 
the  reverse  of  either  beautiful  or  handsome.  She  was  stout, 
but  short  and  ill  shaped,  and  had  a  very  vulgar  air.  Histo- 
rians have  not  been  able  to  make  up  their  minds  as  to  what  it 
was  that  pleased  the  king  in  Mancini. 

Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere  was  kind-hearted  and  amiable, 
and  Louis  loved  her  because  she  first  loved  him.  A  contem- 
porary author  of  a  life  of  la  Valliere,  written  and  printed  in 
her  life-time,  and  who  is  extremely  favorable  to  her  real  merits 
thus  describes  her : — "  As  a  man  in  a  meadow,  adorned  with 
an  infinite  variety  of  lovely  flowers,  is  almost  always  embar- 
rassed in  his  choice,  so  the  king,  in  the  midst  of  so  many  beau- 
ties, did  not  know  in  favor  of  whom  to  determine.  Chance 
decided  his  choice,  and  Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere,  who  had 
nothing  to  recommend  her  in  point  of  beauty,  triumphed  over 
all  the  rest.  She  is  of  middle  stature  and  rather  thin  (assez 
flouette  ;)  she  walks  ungracefully,  and  is  slightly  lame ;  she  is 
white  and  fair  {blanche  et  blond,)  and  marked  with  small-pox  ; 
her  eyes  are  blackish  (noiratres,)  and  her  look  languishing. 
She  has  a  large  rosy  mouth ;  her  teeth  are  not  good.  She 
has  no  bosom  ;  her  arm  is  flat,  and  does  not  give  too  favorable 
an  idea  of  the  rest  of  her  person.  She  is  sometimes  gay,  and 
has  always  a  great  deal  of  wit  and  vivacity ;  she  speaks  agree- 
ably, and  wants  neither  knowledge  nor  solidity.     She  is  well 


ALCIBIADES.  49 

versed  in  literature,  and  has  a  soul  great,  generous  and  disin- 
terested. She  has  sincerity  and  good  faith  ;  she  has  always 
had  an  extreme  aversion  for  all  that  is  called  coquetry ;  and, 
above  all,  she  has  a  good  heart,  and  loves  her  friends  as  ten- 
derly as  can  be."* 

The  dark  languishing  eyes  here  ascribed  to  la  Valliere  did 
not,  as  might  be  thought,  redeem  her  face  from  being  plain  ; 
and  Louis,  even  after  he  began  to  regard  her,  on  discovering 
her  affection  for  himself,  confessed  her  entire  want  of  beauty; 
and  his  taste  in  everything  was  admirable. 

One  day  a  courtier  pointed  her  out  to  the  king,  and  said,  in 
a  jeering  tone  :  "  Come  hither,  fair  one,  with  the  dying  eyes 
{la  belle  aax  yeux  mourans,)  who  are  content  with  nothing  less 
than  monarchs."  La  Valliere  was  confused,  and  the  king 
was  vexed  at  the  rudeness.  He  still  saw  nothing  to  admire 
about  her,  but  after  his  gracious  fashion,  he  saluted  her  with 
the  utmost  respect  and  spoke  kindly  to  her  ;  and  he  soon  after 
made  it  known  that  he  wished  to  see  her  married  to  a  noble- 
man of  high  rank,  and  that  he  would  compensate  for  her  want 
of  personal  charms  by  the  fortune  which  he  would  bestow  on 
her.  "When  he  came,  however,  after  this  to  enter  more  fre- 
quently into  conversation  with  this  affectionate  creature,  his 
kindness  became  converted  into  love.f 

Amongst  beautiful  squinters  is  enumerated  the  Greek  poet, 
Menandeif  A  modern  writer  on  the  calamities  of  genius,  men- 
tions the  squint  of  Menander.^:  The  poet  is  described  as  liv- 
ing the  life  of  a  Sybarite.  "  Plowing  with  unguents  and  with 
a  loose  robe,"  says  Phsedrus,  describing  his  appearance  before 

*  "La  Vie  de  la  Duchesse  de  la  Valliere,''  par.  ...  p  90.  A  Co- 
logne, chez  Jean  de  la  Verite.  The  place  of  publication  is  as  fictitious 
as  the  assumed  name  of  the  bookseller. 

t  'La  Vie  de  la  Duchesse  de  la  Valliere,"  p.9G 

X  D.  Josephus  Barberius,  "De  Miscria  Poetarum,"  p.  54.  Neap  1686. 
3         .    ' 


50  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

the  tyrant  Dionysius,  "  he  came  forward  with  a  delicate  and 
languid  walk."  His  passion  for  female  beauty  is  described  as 
a  perfect  madness,  his  love  for  the  courtesan  Glyeera  being 
much  celebrated  amongst  the  Greeks. 

Some  there  have  been  who  inflamed  all  hearts  by  the  fire  of 
a  single  eye,  notwithstanding  the  almost  universal  prejudice  in 
favor  of  two.  The  Princess  of  Eboli,  the  mistress  of  Philip 
II.,  of  Spain,  who  was  deprived  of  the  sight  of  one  of  her  eyes, 
was,  notwithstanding,  a  perfect  miracle  of  beauty.  "  Nature," 
says  the  Pere  la  Moyne,  "  had  finished  with  extraordinary  care 
both  the  mind  and  the  body  of  this  princess,  but  had  only  giv- 
en her  one  eye ;  whether  it  was  that  she  despaired  of  being 
able  to  make  a  second  equal  to  the  first ;  or  that,  in  this  re- 
spect, the  princess  might  resemble  the  day,  which  has  but  one 
eye;  or,  as  Perez  said  to  Henry  the  Great,  that  Nature  was 
afraid  that  if  she  had  had  two  eyes  she  would  have  set  the  whole 
world  on  fire."*  Mrs.  Jameson,  in  her  "  Memoirs  of  Early 
Italian  Painters,"  notices  a  picture  by  Tftian,  called  "  Philip 
II.  and  the  Princess  of  Eboli,"  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Museum,  at 
Cambridge. 

According  to  Dr.  Joseph  "Warton,  it  was  upon  the  Princess 
of  Eboli  and  Luis  de  Maguiron,  the  most  beautiful  man  of 
his  time,  and  the  favorite  of  Henry  III.,  of  France,  who  lost 
an  eye  at  the  siege  of  Isore,  that  the  famous  epigram  about 
Aeon  and  Leonilla — the  finest  of  modern  Latin  epigrams,  as  it 
is  justly  allowed  to  be— was  written.  It  has  been  translated, 
but  with  little  success,  into  various  languages. 

"  Lumine  Aeon  dextro,  capta  est  Leonilla  sinistra 
Et  potist  est  forma  vincere  uterque  deos  ; 
Blande  puer,  lumen  quod  habes  concede  sorori, 
Sic  tu  caucus  Amor,  sic  erit  ilia  Venus.'* 

*  La  Galerie  de3  Femmcs  Fortes,"  par  le  Pere  le  Moyne,  partie  n,  p. 
25.     Paris,  1663. 


ALCIBIADES.  51 

"  Aeon  is  deprived  of  bis  right  eye  ;  Leonilla  of  the  left ; 
and  either  of  them  in  beauty  is  able  to  vanquish  the  gods. 
Sweet  youth,  yield  up  to  your  sister  the  eye  that  you  have;  so 
you  will  be  blind  Love,  and  she  will  be  Venus?"  "VVarton 
believed  this  renowned  epigram  to  be  anonymous.  It  is,  how- 
ever, the  production  of  an  obscure  Italian  poet,  Girolamo 
Amaltheo,  (in  Latin,  Hieronymus  Amaltheus,)  and  is  to  be 
found  amongst  his  pieces,  in  a  collection  of  the  beauties  of 
two  hundred  Italian  poets.*  Only  one  other  epigram  by 
Amaltheo  has  obtained  celebrity.  It  is  the  epigram  Galla  tibi 
totus  sua  munera  dedicat  anmes,  Sfc.  "  Oh,  Galla,  the  whole 
year  dedicates  its  gifts  to  thee ;  the  spring  has  painted  with 
its  red  thy  rosy  cheeks  and  lips ;  the  summer  has  placed  a 
thousand  fires  in  thy  radiant  eyes  ;  the  autumn  hides  its  fruit 
in  thy  bosom,  and  the  winter  has  sprinkled  all  the  rest  with  its 


*  " Delitiu  C  C  Italorum  Poetarum,  hujus,  superiorisque  am  Illus- 
triura."     Collectore  Ranutio  Ghero,  1608. 


HELEN    OF    TROY 


Having  brought  forward  a  traditional  portrait  of  Hector,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  refer  to  the  pictures  which  have  been  given 
of  Helen  of  Troy,  the  most  illustrious  name  in  the  history  of 
beauty.  Helen,  according  to  the  author  of  the  work  which 
bears  the  name  of  Dares,  and  which  is  believed  to  have  been 
written  during  the  decline  of  the  Roman  literature,  resembled 
her  brothers,  Castor  and  Pollux,  who  had  yellow  hair  and 
large  eyes.  "  She  was  besides,"  says  Daws,  M  beautiful,  of  a 
simple  mind  (as  no  doubt  she  was,)  pleasant,  with  very  fine 
legs,  having  a  mark  between  her  eyebrows  (notam  inter  duo 
supercilia  habentem;  this,  I  suspect,  is  the  small  space 
admired  by  antiquity,)  and  a  very  little  mouth."* 

I  have  not  met  in  any  writer  in  any  period  when  good  taste 
flourished,  with  a  commendation  of  little  mouths ;  a  little 
mouth  being  condemned  by  all  good  judges,  as  being  the  al- 
most unfailing  accompaniment  of  want  of  intellect  and  taste 

In  the  enumeration  of  the  thirty  points  of  female  beauty, 
which  are  said  to  have  all  met  in  Helen,  a  small  mouth  is  enu- 
merated. There  are  other  serious  errors  of  taste  in  that  pro- 
duction, to  which  I  shall  afterwards  have  occasion  to  refer. 

*  Dares  Phrvgiu*,  p.  170. 

(52) 


HELEN    OF    TROY.  53 

It  appears  to  have  been  written  about  the  commencement  of 
the  sixteenth  century. 

Homer,  it  has  been  observed,  has  told  us  nothing  specific 
about  Helen's  person  or  face.  With  him  she  is  "the  divine 
woman,"  and  Helen  "  with  the  face  like  that  of  the  immortal 
gods."  In  one  place,  he  tells  us  that  she  was  wrapped  in  an 
ample  robe.  In  Homer's  great  poem,  Juno,  with  her  white 
arms,  and  her  ox-eyes,  is  less  of  an  abstraction  than  Helen. 
"What  Horner  has  omitted  to  do  has,  however,  been  done  by 
writers  of  less  fertile  imagination.  The  picture  drawn  by 
Constantine  Manasses,  a  Byzantine  writer,  is  the  most  detailed 
and  curious  account.  If  it  serves  no  other  purpose,  it  is  au- 
thentic enough  as  a  specimen  of  the  Byzantine  ideas  of  beauty. 
Artopseus,  the  commentator  on  Dares,  notices  the  tautology 
of  this  description  by  Constantine,  but  I  give  it  entire. 

"  She  was  a  most  beautiful  woman,  with  beautiful  eyebrows, 
of  a  very  fine  complexion  (evxpovaratr;)  with  beautiful  cheeks, 
a  good  face,  large  eyes,  whiter  than  the  snow,  with  curved 
eyebrows,  delicate,  a  grove  of  graces,  with  white  arms,  given 
to  pleasures,  breathing  beauty,  of  a  fair  and  agreeable  com- 
plexion, her  cheeks  rosy  without  paint,  the  rosy  blush  setting 
off  her  great  whiteness,  as  if  one  mingled  the  splendid  purple 
with  the  ivory,  with  a  long  and  very  white  neck,  whence  she 
was  said  to  be  the  daughter  of  a  swan."  The  description  of 
Helen  by  Cedrenus,  another  Byzantine  writer,  agrees  in  the 
main  points  w7ith  this  by  Constantine  Manasses.  "  Helen," 
says  Cedrenus,  "was  most  beautiful."  u  One  day  when  Paris 
looked  into  her  garden,  he  saw  that  she  was  of  incomparable 
beauty  for  she  was  tall  (svoto%os)  with  beautiful  breasts,  white 
as  snow,  with  beautiful  eyebrows,  an  elegant  nose,  her  hair 
crisp  (©uxcflpifj,)  and  half  yellow,*   (vfoZavOos,)  and  with  large 

*  Georgii  Cedreni,  "Compendium  Historicum,"  torn  i,  pp.  121,  124. 
Paris,  1647.  The  passage  from  Constantine  Manasses,  I  have  been 
obliged  to  take  from  Artopacu's  "  Commentary  on  Dares." 


54  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

eyes."  I  have  translated  the  word  svato-kos,  "  tall,"  by  advice 
of  Artopseus.  He  declares  that  those  who  have  translated 
* vaxo-Kos,  "  elegant  in  her  dress  "  are  wrong,  as  an  elegant  dress 
is  no  part  of  the  gifts  of  the  person ;  and  as  besides  Helen 
never  was  elegant  in  her  dress  till  she  ran  off  with  Paris. 
Evuro^o?,  he  contends,  is  "tall,  or  of  a  deep  waist."  I  have 
seen  it  translated  slender,  but  I  cannot  believe  that  a  writer 
of  Constantinople  would  have  praised  slenderness ;  and  I  did 
not  wish  to  place  Cedrenus  in  direct  opposition  to  Constantino 
on  this  point.  Cedrenus  is  not  unsupported  by  venerable  au- 
thority when  he  calls  Helen  svfiaato^  "  of  a  beautiful  bosom." 
In  ancient  days,  Euripides,  the  woman-hater,  who  has  be- 
stowed the  most  opprobrious  epithets  on  Helen,  has  particu- 
larly referred  to  the  singular  handsomeness  of  her  bust.  Helen 
herself  appears  to  have  been  perfectly  sensible  of  her  merits 
in  this  respect,  if  it  be  true,  as  Pliny  relates,  that  she  pre- 
sented as  an  offering  to  Minerva,  a  cup  made  of  the  precious 
metal  called  electrum,  modelled  after  the  form  of  her  breast.* 
The  fine  passage,  in  which  Homer  speaks  of  the  effect  of 
Helen's  beauty,  even  upon  those  who  had  reason  to  hate  her, 
has  drawn  forth  something  like  a  feeling  of  the  spirit  of  poe- 
try, even  from  Bayle.  He  tells  us  that  all  the  descriptions  of 
her  person  which  have  come  down  to  us,  do  not  give  us  an 
idea  of  her  charms  equal  to  that  which  we  form  when  we  hear 
that  the  aged  chiefs,  when  she  made  her  appearance  on  the 
walls,  burst  out  into  the  exclamation,  that  the  Trojans  and 
the  Grecians  were  "not  to  be  blamed  for  having  so  long 
endured  so  much  suffering  for  such  a  woman  ;  for  in  counte- 
nance she  is  altogether  like  the  immortal  goddesses."  Mar- 
lowe, I  think,  has  taken  a  hint  from  this  really  beautiful  pas- 

*  Plinii,  "  Hist.  Naturalis,"  lib.  xxxin.  c.  23.  The  electrum,  according 
to  Pliny,  was  a  composition  of  gold  with  a  fifth  part  of  silver,  and  had 
the  properties  of  shining  brightly  and  of  detecting  poison. 


HELEN    OF    TROY.  55 

sage  in  the  outburst  which  he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Faustus, 
when  the  devil  brings  before  him  the  shade  of  Helen — 

"  Was  this  the  face  that  launch' d  a  thousand  ships, 
And  burnt  the  topmost  towers  of  Illium  ? 
Sweet  Helen,  make  me  immortal  with  a  kiss  ! 
Her  lips  suck  forth  my  soul !     See  where  it  flies  ! 
Come,  Helen,  come,  give  me  my  soul  again  ! 
Here  will  I  dwell,  for  heaven  is  in  these  lips, 
And  all  is  dross  that  is  not  Helena. 
I  will  be  Paris,  and,  for  love  of  thee, 
Instead  of  Troy  shall  Wittenberg  be  sack'd; 
And  I  will  combat  with  weak  Menelaus, 
And  wear  thy  colors  on  my  plumed  crest ;  ■ 

Yea,  I  will  wound  Achilles  in  the  heel, 
And  then  return  to  Helen  for  a  kiss. 
Oh!   thou  art  fairer  than  the  evening  air — 
Clad  in  the  beauty  of  a  thousand  stars  ; 
Brighter  art  thou  than  flaming  Jupiter 
When  he  appeared  to  hapless  Semele ; 
More  lovely  than  the  Monarch  of  the  sky 
In  wanton  Arethusas  azure  arms, 
And  none  but  thou  shaltbe  my  paramour." 

Some  writers  have  asserted  that  the  charms  of  Helen  did 
not  fade  in  old  age.  But  the  moralist,  who  wishes  to  with- 
draw the  soul  from  the  contemplation  of  that  beauty  which  is 
but  dust  and  ashes,- to  that  comeliness  to  which  increase  of 
years  only  gives  increase  of  brightness,  will  be  better  pleased 
with  Ovid,  who  represents  Helen  looking  in  her  mirror  with 
tears,  and  asking  herself  why  first  Theseus  and  then  Paris 
had  stolen  her  away. 

"Flet  quoque  ut  in  speculo  rugas  conspexit  aniles 
Tyndaris ;   et  secum  cur  sit  bis  rapta  requirit." 


ALEXANDER   THE    GREAT. 


The  common  modem  notion  of  Alexander  the  Great  is, 
that  he  was  a  man  of  short  stature,  wry-necked,  and  otherwise 
deformed.  I  could  quote  many  testimonies  to  this  effect. 
Burton,  in  his  "  Anatomy  of  Melancholy,"  tells  us  that  the 
Great  Alexander  was  a  "  little  man  of  stature."  We  are 
assured  by  Pope  that — 

"  Great  Amnion's  son  one  shoulder  had  too  high ;"' 

and  Gillies,  in  his  "  History  of  Greece,"  says  "  he  waa  of  low 
stature,  and  somewhat  deformed."  These  statements  are  all 
erroneous.  The  ancients  knew  Alexander  only  as  beautiful 
alike  in  face  and  form. 

AVe  have,  most  unfortunately,  no  history  of  Alexander  by 
any  contemporary  writer,  but  we  have  the  relations  of  authors, 
who  had  the  contemporary  writers  in  their  hands.  Our 
accounts  of  Alexander's  person  are  from  authors  of  the  second 
and  third  centuries  of  the  Christian  era;  Arrian,  Plutarch, 
Tacitus,  JElian,  and  Solinus.  There  is  a  complete  harmony 
amongst  all  these  authorities ;  all  are  agreed  on  the  beauty  of 
Alexander  ;  and  out  of  their  statements,  put  together,  we  have 
a  detailed  account  of  his  person  and  appearance.  The  faith- 
ful and  accurate  Arrian,  who  had  before  him  the  writings  of 

(56) 


ALEXANDER    THE    GREAT.  57 

Ptolemy  and  Aristobulus,  who  had  fought  with  Alexander, 
tells    us   that   he  was  in  person   most  beautiful  (to  6e  u^ua 

xaXkuytOj.)* 

The  curious  and  inquisitive  iElian  gives  Alexander  as  an 
instance  in  his  chapter  on  those  who  have  excelled  in  beauty, 
ranking  him  in  this  respect  with  Alcibiades,  Scipio,  and  De- 
metrius Poliorcetes,  the  comeliest  of  men.  B  His  hair,"  he 
says,  "  was  yellow  and  flowing."!  Solinus  says  his  stature  was 
lofty  beyond  the  common,  with  a  long  neck,  large  and  lustrous 
eyes,  his  cheeks  gracefully  ruddy,  and  beautiful  in  ail  other 
points  with  a  certain  air  of  majesty.! 

Tacitus,  in  speaking  of  the  death  of  Germanicus,  tells  us 
that  the  people  were  led  to  compare  his  beauty,  his  youth,  the 
manner  of  his  death,  on  account  of  the  near  neighborhood  of 
the  places  in  which  both  died,  with  the  fate  of  Alexander  the 
Great ;  "  for  both,"  adds  the  historian,  "  with  great  beauty  of 
person,  and  illustrious  descent,  at  the  age  of  little  more  than 
thirty,  had  fallen  amongst  foreign  nations  by  the  treachery  of 
their  own  people."^  The  beauty  of  the  amiable  Germanicus 
is  matter  of  established  history,  though  in  the  proper  place  I 
shall  have  to  notice  the  defect  which  Suetonius  describes  in 
his  person. 

There  is  no  contradiction  to  these  concurring  accounts  in 
any  ancient  writer ;  and  Plutarch  furnishes  us  with  informa- 
tion, from  which  we  may  see  in  what  way  the  modern  belief 
that  Alexander  had  a  wry  neck  has  arisen.  Alexander  had 
the  fashionable  Greek  habit,  as  the  beautiful  Alcibiades  had, 
and  as  others  beautiful  and  not  beautiful  had,  of  leaning  his 
head  gently  and  gracefully  to  one  side  ;  perhaps  not  more  than 
a  painter  would  have  desired  him  to  do,  if  he  wished  to  draw 

*  Arrian,  lib.  vnr,  c.  28. 
fiElian,  lib.  xn,  C.  14. 
\  Solinus,  "  Polyhistor,"  c.  14. 
<j  Taciti,  "  Annalcs,"  lib  n,  c.  73. 
3* 


58  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

him  in  an  easy  attitude.  The  fashion  was  in  practice  with  tho 
Greek  women  as  well  as  the  men ;  and  is  mentioned  in  a  frag- 
ment of  the  comic  poet  Alexis,  quoted  by  Athenseus,  as  one 
of  the  means  which  they  took  to  make  themselves  amiable. 

Montaigne,  who  thoroughly  admired  and  perfectly  under- 
stood Alexander,  has  stated  this  matter  well.  "  It  was,"  he 
says,  "  an  affectation  arising  from  his  beauty  wThich  made  Al- 
exander lean  his  head  a  little  to  one  side."*  This  habit  of 
Alexander  is  also  well  described  in  an  amusing  passage  in  the 
"  Spectator."  "  If  we  look  further  back  into  history,  we 
shall  find  that  Alexander  the  Great  wore  his  head  a  little  over 
the  left  shoulder ;  and  then  not  a  soul  stirred  out  till  he  had 
adjusted  his  neck-bone  ;  the  whole  nobility  addressed  the 
prince  and  each  other  obliquely;  and  all  matters  of  importance 
were  carried  on  in  the  Macedonian  court  with  their  poles  on 
one  side."f  In  this  attitude,  and  looking  up  to  heaven,  Lycip- 
pus  the  sculptor,  designed  the  statue  of  Alexander.  "  It  was," 
says  Plutarch,  "  Alexander's  posture  while  he  lived.",  Lycip- 
pus  showed  himself  a  true  master  of  his  art  by  taking  Alex- 
ander in  his  favorite  attitude ;  as  we  frequently  see  painters 
and  statuaries  destroy  the  whole  spirit  and  character  of  a 
work,  otherwise  possessed  of  merit,  from  want  of  attention  to 
this  point. 

Lycippus,  Plutarch  tells  us  in  this  same  treatise,  expressed 
in  brass,  the  vigor  of  Alexander's  mind,  and  the  lustre  of  his 
virtues  ;  while  others,  imitating  the  bend  in  the  neck,  and  the 
rolling  of  the  eye,  failed  to  express  the  lionlike  fierceness  of 
the  face.  In  his  life  of  Alexander,  Plutarch  tells  us  that  he 
had  a  terrible  countenance,  which  struck  and  disturbed  those 
on  whom  he  cast  a  look  in  anger — a  description  in  no  way  in- 
consistent with  the  idea  of  his  great  beauty.  Plutarch  fur- 
ther tells  us  that  Alexander  was  fair  and  ruddy  in  the  face 

*  "Essais,"  lib.  ii,  c.  17. 

t  Plutarch,  "  De  Fortuna  Alexandri,"  lib.  ti. 


ALEXANDER    THE    GREAT.  59 

and  breast,  though  Apelles,  in  painting  him  holding  the  thun- 
derbolt, had  made  his  face  darker  than  it  was.  This  I  should 
conjecture  to  be  an  ignorant  criticism  on  a  noble  stroke  of  art 
in  the  great  painter. 

In  short,  we  have  a  superfluity  of  evidence  that  Alexander 
had  all  that  form  which  charmed  antiquity ;  and  in  his  time 
he  was  considered  to  be  a  living  representation  of  the  divine 
Achilles,  with  whom  he  was  pleased  to  be  compared.  A 
striking  proof  of  the  idea  of  Alexander's  person,  universally 
prevalent  amongst  the  ancients,  is  furnished  by  the  historian 
Herodian.  The  mad  emperor  Caracalla  had  a  passion  for 
imitating  Achilles  and  Alexander;  and  Herodian  tells  us  that 
the  people  laughed  at  seeing  a  man  of  his  small  stature  aping 
these  very  valiant  and  large  [^ytf-raj]  warriors.* 

The  head  of  Alexander  on  his  silver  coins  is  bound  with  a 
fillet ;  the  hair  is  richly  curled,  the  eyes  large  and  open,  the 
nostrils  wide,  and  the  mouth  finely  shaped. 

There  are  two  circumstances  in  the  history  of  Alexander,  as 
it  is  usually  written,  which  may  have  helped  to  confirm  the 
fable  of  his  being  of  small  stature.  In  his  Indian  expedition, 
he  is  said  to  hav  ecaused  suits  of  armor  of  a  gigantic  size  to 
be  buried  in  the  earth,  in  order  that  on  their  being  afterwards 
dug  up  by  the  people,  they  might  give  them  an  idea  that  the 
Macedonian  invaders  were  men  of  marvellous  stature.  This, 
it  has  been  said,  is  not  like  the  expedient  of  a  tall  man. 

Another  story,  or  rather  a  romance,  told  by  Quintus  Curtius, 
would,  when  ignorantly  read.,  convey  an  impression  of  the 
small  stature  of  Alexander.  He  tells  us  that  Thalestris,  Queen 
of  the  Amazons,  out  of  desire  to  see  the  conqueror,  left  her 
country  at  the  head  of  three  hundred  of  her  women.  When 
she  saw  the  king,  however,  she  was  much  disappointed  with 
his  appearance,  and  looked  at  him  with  an  unterrified  counte 

*  Herodian,  "  Hist."  lib.  iv,  c.  1G 


60  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

nance ;  for,  says  the  historian,  with  all  the  barbarians,  venera- 
tion is  paid  to  majesty  of  person  ;  they  do  not  consider  any  one 
capable  of  great  things,  except  those  whom  nature  lias 
endowed  with  an  extraordinary  appearance.* 

If  all  this,  and  all  the  love  affair  between  the  warlike  queen 
and  Alexander,  as  related  with  much  simplicity  by  Curtius, 
were  matters  of  real  history,  and  not  of  romance,  they  would 
prove  nothing  farther  than  that  the  Amazonian  queen  expected 
to  meet  with  a  regular  giant,  which,  in  her  case,  would  have 
been  a  very  natural  expectation,  and  was  disappointed.  The 
idea  of  a  great  conqueror,  even  in  the  minds  of  those  who  are 
not  barbarians,  is  that  of  a  giant.  See,  in  Shakespeare,  how 
the  Countess  of  Auverny  is  disappointed  when  she  finds  that 
the  fierce  Talbot,  the  scourge  of  France,  is  not  a  perfect  ogre. 

"  Is  this  the  scourge  of  France  ? 
Is  this  the  Talbot,  so  much  fear'd  abroad, 
That  with  his  name  the  mothers  still  their  babes  ? 
I  see  report  is  fabulous  and  false 
I  thought  I  should  have  seen  some  Hercules, 
A  second  Hector,  for  his  grim  aspect, 
And  large  proportion  of  his  strong-knit  limbs. 
Alas  !  this  is  a  child,  a  silly  dwarf,  "f 

The  sweet  odor  which  Plutarch,  referring  to  the  memoirs 
of  Aristoxenes  as  his  authority,  tells  us  issued  from  the  body 
of  Alexander,  and  perfumed  his  dress,  is,  in  all  probability,  a 
fable  for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  idolatry  of  his  admirers, 
or  the  deceit  of  his  flatterers;  perhaps  to  an  innocent  fraud 
on  the  part  of  Alexander  himself.  This  was  a  gift  attributed 
to  his  heathen  goddesses;  and  if  we  are  to  believe  a  thou- 
sand legends  of  the  Christian  Church,  was  a  virtue  possessed 
by  the  bodies  of  great  saints,  both  during  their  lives  and  after 

*  Quintus  Curtius,  lib.  vi,  p   133.     Amst.  1671. 
t  Henry  vi,  Act  n,  sc  2. 


ALEXANDER    THE    GREAT.  61 

their  deaths.  Of  Polycarp,  the  early  martyr,  many  respectable 
Christians  believed  at  the  time,  and  at  this  very  day,  I  have  no 
doubt,  many  Christians  still  believe,  that  when  he  was  fastened 
to  the  stake,  his  body  emitted  a  delightful  fragrance  like  that 
of  frankincense  to  the  senses  of  all  present.  Eusibus  is  the 
authority  for  the  tale. 

The  sensible  Dr.  Jortin  has  given  a  very  reasonable  conjec- 
tural explanation  of  the  miraculous  perfume  felt  at  the  pile  of 
Polycarp.  "  Scented  wood,"  he  says,  "  is  common  in  hot  coun- 
tries, and  the  odor  might  proceed  from  the  fuel,  for  the  people 
ran  about  the  baths  and  other  places  to  get  wood  ;  and  a 
Christian  might  also  join  with  them,  and  bring  a  bundle  of 
wood  with  aromatics  enclosed  in  it  to  honor  the  funeral  of  his 
bishop.  The  Christians,  however  frugal  in  other  respects  in 
their  expenses,  were  very  profuse  in  the  interment  of  their  bre- 
thren."* 

With  regard  to  this  alleged  property  of  Alexander's,  I  do 
not  think  it  is  calculated  to  raise  our  admiration  of  him ;  and 
I  cannot  help  agreeing  with  Montaigne  that  the  Macedonian 
hero  would  have  been  as  well  without  this  singular  endow- 
ment. "  The  sweetness  of  the  purest  breaths  has  ^nothing 
more  perfect  than  to  be  without  any  odor  like  those  of  healthy 
children.     Hence  says  Plautus  : 

"  « Mulier  turn  bene  olet,  ubi  nihil  olet.' 
The  most  exquisite  odor  of  a  woman  is  to  smell  of  nothing. 
And  as  to  the  fine  strange  odors,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
that  they  are  employed  to  cover  some  natural  defect  in  that 

way."t 

The  private  habits  of  Alexander  are  well  known.  He  de- 
lighted in  splendor  and  magnificence,  and  like  Caesar  had  a 
fine  taste  for  literature  and  the  arts,  and  was  a  judicious  patron 

*  Jortin,  "  E,em.  on  Ecclesiastical  History.' 
1  Montaigne,  "  Essais, '  lib  t,  c    66. 


02  CLASSIC   AND    HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

of  both.  His  great  vice  was  the  vice  of  his  father  and  of  his 
country,  the  drunkenness  which  was  as  truly  national  in  Mace- 
donia in  ancient  times  as  it  is  in  Sweden  and  Scotland  in 
modern  days.  ./Elian  has  placed  the  name  of  Alexander 
amongst  those  of  distinguished  drunkards.  In  a  familiar  line, 
Pope  has  called  Alexander  "  Macedonia's  madman."  This 
wonderful  young  man,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-two, 
besides  being  a  perfect  master  of  the  art  of  war,  was  a  man  of 
cultivated  and  elegant  tastes,  a  sagacious  politician,  and  a 
benefactor  of  the  human  race.  We  may  safely  leave  his  char- 
acter to  the  enthusiastic  praises  of  such  men  as  Montesquieu 
and  Schlegel,  and,  above  all  of  Bacon.  All  these  men  of 
genius  regarded  Alexander  as  amongst  the  greatest  of  mere 
men. 

Trebellius  Pollio,  the  Augustan  historian,  in  his  account  of 
the  Macrian  family,  tells  us  that  the  men  had  the  figure,  of 
Alexander  sculptured  on  their  rings,  and  their  silver  plate ; 
and  that  the  women  wore  his  figure  in  the  net-work  on  their 
heads,  and  in  their  bracelets  {dextrocherium  is  the  word,  mean- 
ing the  bracelet  worn  on  the  right  arm,)  and  on  every  sort  of 
ornament,  so  that  there  were  gowns  and  fringes  and  mantles  in 
the  family  at  the  time  when  Pollio  wrote,  wiiich  showed  the 
figure  of  Alexander  in  various  fashions.  He  had  seen  Corne- 
lius Macer  when  he  gave  a  supper  in  the  temple  of  Hercules, 
present  to  the  chief  magistrate  a  goblet  of  electrum  (paterum 
clectrinam,)  which  in  the  centre  had  the  face  of  Alexander,  while 
the  whole  history  of  Alexander  was  sculptured  in  minute 
figures  round  its  border.  The  cup,  he  says,  was  carried  round 
the  whole  company ;  all  of  them  very  fond  of  so  great  a  man. 
The  historian  adds,  that  it  was  considered  lucky  to  carry 
about  the  person  the  figure  of  Alexander  in  gold  or  silver.* 

The  horses  of  great  warriors — of  Alexander,  Caesar,    and 

*  Historic  Augusts  Scriptores,"  torn,  n, p.  296      Lufd.  Bat.  1871. 


ALEXANDER    THE     GREAT.  63 

the  Cid  of  Spain — have  had  their  appearance  and  characters 
noticed  in  history.  Alexander's  Bucephalus  has  been  sup- 
posed to  have  derived  his  name  from  his  head  being  like  that 
of  an  ox ;  but  Montaigne  is  in  all  probability  right,  when  he 
says  that  the  name  of  "  Ox-head"  would  merely  denote  that 
he  had  a  large  head.  In  the  same  way,  it  is  probable  that 
when  Homer  speaks  of  the  "  ox-eyes"  of  Ju-no,  he  merely 
means  that  the  eyes  of  the  imperious  queen  of  heaven  were 
large  and  round.  A  large  head  is  not  reckoned  handsome, 
either  in  a  horse  or  in  a  woman  ;  but  the  numerous  virtues  of 
Bucephalus  would  atone  for  his  want  of  personal  beauty.  He 
had  belonged  to  Philip,  for  whom  he  had  been  purchased  for 
thirteen  talents. 

When  armed  and  adorned  for  the  battle,  he  would  allow  no 
one  to  mount  him  but  Alexander.  In  the  Indian  war,  he  car- 
ried his  master  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  ranks  ;  and  being 
mortally  wounded  in  the  neck  and  side,  by  a  great  effort  he 
brought  him  out  again,  and  then  fell  dowm  and  died.  Alexan- 
der buried  him  wTith  military  honors,  built  a  city  on  the  place 
where  he  was  interred,  and  called  it  after  his  name.* 

The  Arabs  attribute  all  the  virtues  of  a  horse  to  his  moth- 
er. The  intellect  of  men  is  in  general  an  inheritance  from  the 
maternal  side.  If,  however,  intellect  be  hereditary,  Alexander 
on  the  side  both  of  father  and  mother  was  singularly  fortunate  ; 
and  he  seems  to  have  inherited  the  great  and  good  points  of 
both  parents,  with  but  little  share  of  their  vices.  The  great 
abilities,  splendid  wit,  beauty  and  intolerable  arrogance  of 
Olympias,  are  matters  of  history.  There  is  nothing  in  the 
records  of  sarcasm  finer  than  the  reproof  which  she  wrote  to 
her  son  wrhen,  in  the  intoxication  of  vanity,  he  asserted  his 
divine  parentage,  commencing  his  letter  to  his  mother   with, 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  v,  c.  2. 


64  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

"  Alexander,  the  son  of  Jupiter  Ammon,  sends  health  to  his 
mother." 

"For  my  love,"  said  Olympias  in  reply,  "be  quiet  about 
that,  and  do  not  bring  me  into  trouble  with  Juno,  who  will 
do  me  a  misehief,  if  you  represent  me  as  her  rival."* 

What  a  world  of  satire  on  her  son,  on  the  pagan  religion, 
and  on  the  jealous  character  of  the  queen  of  heaven  !  and  what 
a  diverting  religion  it  was  which  gave  fair  room  for  such 
satire  !  Another  saying  of  Olympias  is  better  than  witty  ;  it 
is  great  and  generous.  Phillip  had  fallen  in  love  with  a  woman 
of  Thessaly,  who,  in  the  popular  belief,  was  thought  to  have 
made  use  of  the  magical  arts,  for  which  her  country  has 
always  been  renowned,  to  inflame  the  king's  passion.  Olym- 
pias caused  her  rival  to  be  brought  before  her.  She  found 
nothing  to  marvel  at  in  her  beauty,  but  after  conversing  with 
her,  she  exclaimed  :  "  Let  slanders  cease  !  your  witchcraft  is 
in  yourself!"  What  a  compliment  for  a  woman  to  receive  from 
a  woman,  and  from  such  a  woman  as  Olympias  ! 

Alexander,  besides  his  intellectual  obligations  to  his  mother, 
was  indebted  to  her  for  the  beauty  of  his  face.  All  the  coins 
and  medals  represent  Alexander  as  bearing  a  striking  resem- 
blance to  Olympias.  Olympias  has,  in  addition  to  a  fine  dou- 
ble chin  of  her  own,  the  large  open  eye,  the  fulness  of  face, 
the  Greek  nose,  and  the  exquisitely  chiselled  month  of  Alex- 
ander. 

In  a  very  fine  medal  published  in  Snakenberg's  Quintu  5 
Curtius,  Olympias  has  her  hair  beautifully  arranged  with  some 
leaves  gracefully  intertwined,  and  an  ornament  of  a  crescent 
shape  in  front.  In  another  coin  or  medallion  the  heads  of 
Alexander  and  his  mother  are  placed  together,  and  the  resem- 
blance is  very  remarkable. 

Olympias  has  gained  pardon  from  posterity  for  many  great 

*  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  xm,  c  4. 


ALEXANDER    THE    GREAT.  65 

faults  by  the  courage  and  calmness  with  which  she  met  her 
death,  "  submitting  to  her  fate  in  such  a  way,"  says  the  histo- 
rian, "  that  you  might  recognise  Alexander  in  his  dying  moth- 
er." Like  Polyxena  before  her,  and  Caesar  after  her,  in  her 
last  moments  she  adjusted  her  robes  and  her  hair,  so  as  to  be 
graceful  in  death  as  she  had  been  in  her  lifetime,  carefully  cov- 
ering her  bosom  and  limbs  as  she  would  wish  to  be  seen.* 

*  Justin.  Hist,  xiv,  c.  6.  The  reading  has  been  much  tortured  by  the 
commentators :  "  Insuper  expirans  capillis  et  veste  crura  coirtcxiase  fertur, 
ne  quid  posset  in  corpore  ejus  indecorum  videri."  I  have  adopted  the 
reading  of  Gramus  :  "  Insuper  expirans  papillas  et  veste  crura  contex- 
isse  fertur.' 


DEMETRIUS 


Demetrius  of  Macedonia,  called  "  the  besieger  of  towns," 
was  so  very  beautiful,  that  it  was  said  no  painter  or  sculptor 
could  do  justice  to  the  mingled  grace  and  dignity  of  his  face 
and  form,  with  which  also  his  manners  and  conversation 
admirably  harmonized.  This  beauty  he  strove  to  improve, 
according  to  the  taste  of  his  time,  by  art.  Being  naturally 
pale,  he  used  pigments  to  heighten  his  color.* 

It  is  not  improbable  that,  like  the  Eoman  Heliogabalus,  he 
in  reality  impaired  his  natural  beauty  by  such  effeminate 
applications.  To  meet  the  requirements  of  his  age,  he  dyed  his 
hair  yellow  by  arts  known  in  his  time.  The  demand  for  golden 
locks  has  not  only  led  to  the  adoption  of  false  hair,  but  to  the 
invention  of  scientific  means  of  converting  other  colors  into  the 
desired  hue. 

We  know  that  Massalina,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
her  infamous  amors,  hid  her  black  hair  with  yellow  locks. f 
Black  hair  was  considered  becoming  in  a  matron,  and  yellow 
hair  was  the  color  for  youth.  Those  who  imitated  youth, 
therefore,  put  on  yellow  hair,  and  hence  it  became  the  fashion 

*iEHan,  lib.  ix,  c   9. 

t  Juvenal,  "  Sat."  lib.  vi,  120. 

(66) 


DEMETRIUS.  67 

adopted  by  unchaste  women  under  the  empire.  The  same 
notion  has  prevailed  in  many  ages  in  Europe.  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  wore  false  yellow  hair.  In  the  "  Merchant  of  Ve- 
nice," Bassanio,  in  an  extremely  beautiful  passage,  says  : 

"  Look  on  beauty, 
And  you  shall  see  it  purchased  by  the  weight 
"Which  therein  works  a  miracle  in  nature, 
Making  them  lightest  that  wear  most  of  it ; 
So  are  those  crisped,  snaky,  golden  locks, 
Which  make  such  wanton  gambols  with  the  wind 
Upon  supposed  fairness,  often  known 
To  be  the  dowry  of  a  second  head— 
The  scull  that  bred  them  in  the  sepulchre. ' 

The  art  of  making  the  hair  yellow  or  fair,  has  been  known 
and  practised  from  a  very  remote  period,  and  is  familiarly 
spoken  of  by  ancient  writers.  Besides  what  he  says  about 
Demetrius,  iElian,  speaking  about  Atalanta,  tells  us  that  "  the 
color  of  her  hair  was  yellow,  produced,  not  by  any  womanly 
art  or  by  tinctures  or  drugs  administered,  but  altogether 
natural."*  JElian  could  not  have  spoken  in  this  way  if  the 
art  had  not  been  well  known  in  his  time.  It  is  particularly 
noticed  by  Tertullian  in  his  interesting  work  on  the  ornaments 
of  women.  "  I  see  some  of  you,"  he  writes  to  his  "  very  dear 
sisters  in  Christ,"  his  black-haired  countrywomen,  "  constantly 
occupied  in  giving  their  hair,  a  fair  color.  They  are  almost 
ashamed  of  their  country ;  they  are  vexed  at  not  having  been 
born  in  Gaul  or  Germany."! 

As  it  has  always  been  considered,  lawful  to  draw  people  to 
what  is  right  by  appealing  to  the  motives  by  which  they  are 
most  likely  to  be  influenced,  Tertullian  leaves  the  high  ground 
of  denouncing  these  arts  as  inventions  of  the  fallen  angels,  and 

*  jElian,  lib.  xir,  c.  1. 

t  Tertulliar*,  **  De  Cultu  Frcminarum,"  lib  n,  c.  6  ;  Opera  i,  156.  Lut. 
Par.  1664. 


68  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

tells  his  countrywomen  that  by  these  processes  the  hair  is  lost, 
and  that  the  brain  itself  is  enfeebled  by  the  use  of  the  liquors 
employed,  and  "  by  the  excessive  heat  of  the  sun  in  which  you 
take  pleasure,  in  inflaming  and  drying  your  heads."  The  no- 
tion that  black  hair  became  matronly  years  is  alluded  to  by 
Tertullian  in  this  treatise.  "  There  comes  a  time,  however," 
he  says,  "  when  they  strive  to  change  their  fair  hair  into  black 
— when,  arrived  at  a  fatal  old  age,  they  are  grieved  at  having 
lived  too  long." 

St.  Jerome,  writing  nearly  two  centuries  later,  notices  the 
dying  of  hair  red.  "  Thou  shalt  not,"  says  this  vehement 
father,  "  turn  your  hair  red,  making  it  ominous  of  the  fires  of 
hell"  (nee  capillum  inrufes  et  ei  aliquid  de  gehennse  ignibus 
auspiceris.) 

The  strange  art  of  converting  black  or  dark-colored  hair 
into  fair  has  been  practised  in  modern  times.  The  following 
extract  is  from  Mrs.  Jameson's  "  Memoirs  and  Essays  illustra- 
tive of  Art,  Literature,  and  Social  Morals."  It  is  an  interest- 
ing commentary  on  the  extracts  from  Tertullian,  and  shows 
that  what  was  known  to  the  Venetian  ladies  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  was  also  familiar  to  the  women  of  Carthage  in  the 
second,  as  it  wTas  also  to  the  Greeks  long  before  the  Christian 
era !  Truly,  there  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun  in  human 
vanity. 

"  With  regard  to  the  Venetian  women,  every  one  must  re- 
member, in  the  Venetian  pictures,  not  only  the  peculiar  luxu- 
riance, but  the  peculiar  color  of  the  hair,  of  every  golden  tint, 
from  a  rich  full  shade  of  auburn  to  a  sort  of  yellow  flaxen  hue, 
or  rather  not  flaxen,  but  like  raw  silk,  such  as  we  have  seen 
the  peasants  in  Lombardy  carrying  over  their  arms,  or  on  their 
heads,  in  great  shining  twisted  heaps.  I  have  sometimes  heard 
it  asked  with  wonder,  whether  those  pale,  golden  masses  of 
hair — the  true  biondina  tint — could  have  been  always  natural  ? 


DEMETRIUS.  69 

On  the  contrary,  it  was  often   artificial — the  color,  not  the 
hair. 

"  In  the  days  of  the  elder  Palma  and  Georgione,  yellow 
hair  was  the  fashion,  and  the  paler  the  tint  the  more  admired. 
The  women  had  a  method  of  discharging  the  natural  color  by 
first  washing  their  tresses  in  some  chemical  preparation,  and 
then  exposing  them  to  the  sun.  I  have  seen  a  curious  old  Ve- 
netian print,  perhaps  satirical,  which  represents  the  process. 
A  lady  is  seated  on  the  roof,  or  balcony,  of  her  house,  wear- 
ing a  sort  of  broad-brimmed  hat  without  a  crown.  The  long 
hair  is  drawTn  over  these  wide  brims,  and  spread  out  in  the 
sunshine,  while  the  face  is  completely  shaded." 

Besides  the  coloring  of  the  hair  by  what  may  be  called  a 
chemical  process,  destroying  the  original  color,  the  ancients 
resorted  to  the  less  artificial  and  mechanical  mode  of  making 
their  hair  of  th«  desired  yellow  by  sprinkling  it  with  a  golden 
powder.  The  elder  Galenius,  the  emperor,  used  this  powder.* 
I  do  not  know  whether  it  be  from  a  notion  of  its  being  beauti- 
ful that  many  of  the  Arabs  of  Aden  make  their  hair  yellow 
by  the  use  of  clay  of  that  color. 

^Elian  uses  a  very  strong  expression,  which  reminds  us  of 
the  terms  in  which  the  use  of  ointments  on  the  person  is  spo- 
ken of  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  when  he  says  that  Deme- 
trius himself  and  his  pavement  flowed  with  unguents.  The 
fresh  flowers  of  every  season  were  strewed  below  him  that  he 
might  walk  among  them.  This  use  of  flowers,  as  it  has  some- 
thing in  it  of  a  passion  for  the  charms  of  nature,  is  certainly 
the  most  defensible,  as  it  is  the  most  refined  and  elegant  of 
Sybarite  luxuries. 

Heliogabalus,  otherwise  a  contemptible  creature  in  compari- 
son with  Demetrius,  according  to   the   Augustan  historian, 

*  Trebellius  Pollio,  "Hist.  Aug.  Scriptores,"  lib.  n,  p.  232. 


70  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

strewed  his  seats,  his  beds,  and  the  porticos  of  his  houses  with 
roses,  and  walked  amongst  lilies  and  violets,  hyacinths  and 
narcissuses.  When  the  younger  Dionysius  revelled  with  the 
women  of  Locria,  he  filled  the  insides  of  his  palaces  with  roses 
and  wild  thyme.  The  Emperor  Galienus,  the  elder,  lay  on 
beds  of  roses,  which  he  procured  even  in  spring. 

iElian  has  devoted  a  chapter  to  the  history  of  two  Sybarites 
— Straton  of  Sidon,  and  Nicocles  of  Cyprus — who  contended 
with  each  other  who  should  be  most  magnificent,  luxurious, 
and  delicate  ;  and  when  the  one  heard  of  any  great  exhibition 
of  splendid  voluptuousness  on  the  part  of  the  other,  he  made  it 
his  business  to  throw  it  into  the  shade  by  .something  still  more 
extraordinary.  At  his  suppers,  Straton  was  surrounded  with 
beautiful  women,  singing,  playing  on  instruments,  and  danc- 
ing. "  Yet,"  says  iElian,  gravely,  "  neither  of  these  princes 
could  indulge  in  these  pleasures  for  ever ;  but  both  were  re- 
moved from  the  world  by  a  violent  death."* 

Polysenus  tells  us  that  Nicocles  hanged  himself.  Of  Straton 
we  learn  that  fearing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Persians,  he 
wished  to  slay  himself,  but  got  frightened  at  the  sight  of  the 
naked  sword,  and  resolved  to  await  his  fate,  when  his  wife, 
snatching  the  weapon  from  his  trembling  hand,  pierced  him 
through  with  it,  and  then  stabbing  herself  mortally,  threw 
herself  into  his  arms  and  died.  The  ancients  would  have 
called  this  a  good  wife. 

But  Demetrius  could  unite  the  character  of  the  warrior 
and  the  politician  with  that  of  the  voluptuary.  The  union  is 
not  common,  but  is  not  unexampled.  In  well-authenticated 
history,  the  Roman  Emperor  Otho  is  the  most  perfect  example 
of  this  strange  mixture  of  the  most  luxurious  effeminacy  and 
the  utmost  heroism  of  soul.  Surena,  the  Parthian  general, 
who  conducted  the  war  against  the  Romans,  was  an  Otho  on 

*  jElian,  lib.  vn,  c  2. 


DEMETRIUS.  7 1 

a  less  conspicuous  field.  History  pronounces  him  to  have 
been  the  greatest  warrior,  the  ablest  politician,  and  the  tallest 
and  most  beautiful  man  of  his  time  amongst  the  Parthians.* 
In  his  expeditions  he  had  a  thousand  camels  bearing  luggage, 
and  two  hundred  carriages  conveying  the  women  of  his  harem. 
Though  always  the  foremost  man  in  the  field  or  in  the  assault 
on  the  fortified  city,  Surena's  beauty  was  distinctly  of  a  femi- 
nine cast ;  and  while  it  was  the  Parthian  custom  to  let  the  hair 
grow  wild  and  shaggy,  in  order  to  strike  terror  into  their  foes, 
their  heroic  general,  the  most  warlike  amongst  them,  painted 
his  face,  and  parted  his  locks  effeminately  on  his  forehead, 
after  the  luxurious  fashion  of  the  Medes.  On  the  part  of 
Surena,  who  carried  with  him  in  all  his  marches  a  train  of  the 
most  beautiful  Parthian  women,  and  spent  his  nights  with 
them  in  feasting  and  licentious  singing  and  dancing,  it  was 
bitter  mockery  when  he  showed  his  court  the  indecent  books 
of  Aristides,  which  had  fallen  into  his  hands  amongst  the  bag- 
gage of  the  Romans,  as  evidence  of  the  luxuriousness  of  their 
enemies,  who  could  not  travel  without  such  things. 

Amongst  warlike  and  energetic  monarchs  who  were  at  the 
same  time  addicted  to  those  soft  vices  which  usually  break 
down  all  manliness  of  character,  the  History  of  England 
gives  us  Edgar,  Henry  II.,  and  Edward  IV.  France  pre- 
sents us  with  Francis  I.  and  Henry  IV.,  and  the  German 
empire  gives  us  Frederick,  the  great  opponent  of  ecclesiastical 
despotism  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Ladislaus,  king  of  Na- 
ples, who  was  murdered  by  a  young  woman  of  Florence  by 
means  of  a  poisoned  handkerchief,  was  a  man  of  this  stamp. 
"  This  good  captain,"  says  Montaigne,  "  courageous  and  am- 
bitious, proposed  to  himself,  as  the  chief  end  of  his  ambition, 
the  completion  of  his  pleasure  and  the  enjoyment  of  some  rare 
beauty.f 

*  Plutaich,  "Crasus3."  t  Montaigne,  "Essais,  p.  537. 


72  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

In  the  other  sex  this  character  is  not  so  rare  as  amongst 
men.  From  the  Semiramis  of  Assyria  to  tne  Semiramis  of 
the  North,  Catharine  of  Kussia,  there  is  a  well  filled  up  list  of 
women,  illustrious  for  their  heroic  spirit  and  infamous  for  their 
licentious  passions. 

Beauty,  voluptuousness,  and  valor  were  met  in  the  fumed 
queen  of  Assyria.  "  Semiramis,"  says  iElian,  "  was  of  ail  wo- 
men most  beautiful,  but  careless  of  her  charms."*  There  is 
amongst  the  portraits  of  Gronoviusf  a  full-length  figure  of 
this  remarkable  woman,  robed  closely  to  the  feet,  with  a  slen- 
der coronet  on  her  head,  and  attended  by  a  dove.  Ancient 
fable  relates  that  as  her  mother,  Dercete,  was  after  death 
changed  into  a  fish  with  the  face  of  a  beautiful  woman,  so  Se- 
miramis was  metamorphosed  into  a  dove,  which  hence  became 
the  Babylonian  emblem.  The  dove  is  the  bird  of  Venus,  the 
representative  of  tenderness  and  love ;  and  the  transmigration 
of  the  soul  of  Semiramis  was  characteristic  of  the  softer  pas- 
sions of  that  warlike  woman. 

Justin  tells  us  something  about  her  person.  When  she 
passed  herself  off  as  the  son  and  not  the  widow  of  Ninus,  Se- 
miramis was  aided  by  the  circumstance  that  both  were  about 
the  same  stature,  both  had  the  same  slender  voice,  and  both 
in  features  resembled  each  other.  She  covered  her  arms  and 
legs  with  her  robe,  and  placed  a  tiara  on  her  head ;  and  in 
order  that  she  might  not  appear  to  be  concealing  any  thing 
under  this  dress,  she  commanded  the  whole  people  to  be 
attired  in  the  same  way,  in  consequence  of  which  this  dress 
became  national.  $  This  is  the  dress  in  which  she  appears  in 
the  picture  in  Gronovius. 

iElian  tells  us  that  Semiramis  did  not  exult  when  in  the 
chase  she  captured  a  lion,  but  was  proud  when  she  took  a 

*  iElian,  lib.  vu,  c.  1. 

t  Gronovius,  "  Thesaurus  Antiq.  Graecarum,"  torn  i.  Note. 

X  Justin,  lib.  i,  c.  1. 


DEMETRIUS.  73 

lioness,  the  danger  of  the  feat  being  esteemed  as  much 
greater.* 

It  is  really  a  pretty  story  which  is  told  of  Semiramis  by 
Valerius  Maximus.  She  was  one  day  dressing  her  hair  when 
tidings  reached  her  that  Babylon  had  revolted.  She  had  got 
the  curls  on  one  side  of  her  head  to  her  mind,  but  the  tresses 
on  the  other  were  still  in  loose  disorder.  But  she  threw  her- 
self, as  she  was,  at  the  head  of  her  soldiers,  and  flew  to  the 
siege,  and  did  not  complete  her  toilet  till  she  had  first  reduced 
the  city  to  obedience.  Her  statue  in  Babylon  represented  her 
as  she  appeared  on  that  day  before  its  walls,  f 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  Sir  "Walter  Ealeigh,  who, 
in  his  melancholy  and  grand  history,  has  more  than  once  ex- 
pressed the  most  false  opinions  about  the  wickedness  of  wo- 
man, refuses  to  believe  the  voice  of  all  history  regarding  the 
licentiousness  of  Semiramis.  "  For  her  vicious  life,"  he  says, 
"I  ascribe  the  report  thereof  to  the  envious  and  lying  Gre- 
cians." His  reasons  for  disbelief  are,  however,  such  as  cannot 
be  allowed  to  invalidate  a  historical  relation.  "  For  delicacie 
and  ease,"  he  continues,  "  do  more  often  accompanie  licen- 
tiousnesse  in  men  and  women  than  labour  and  hazzard  do.":}: 

I  have  already  shown  that  this  rule,  as  regards  men,  is  not 
without  its  exceptions  ;  as  regards  women,  it  is  still  less  to  be 
looked  on  as  universal.  The  licentiousness  of  Semiramis  is 
established  by  constant  and  uniform  historical  tradition.  Thus 
Juvenal,  speaking  of  the  effeminate  arts  of  the  Emperor  Otho, 
who  applied  plasters  of  bread  to  his  face  to  make  it  delicate, 
declares  that  this  was  what  neither  Semiramis  nor  Cleopatra 
did.§  Diodorus  represents  her  as  building  a  palace,  and  con- 
structing gardens  in  one  of  her  cities,  and  making  her  habita- 

*  .Elian  xn.  c.  39. 

t  Valerius  Maximus,  lib.  ix,  c.  in.  see.  4. 

X  Raleigh,  "  History  of  the  World,"  book  i.  c.  12,  sec.  4.     Lond.  1614. 
<j  Juvenalis,  "Sat."  lib.  n.  p.  108. 
4 


74  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

tion  remarkable  in  the  same  way  as  "in  modern  history  the 
tower  of  Nesle  is  by  the  amors  of  the  French  princesses.* 
Procopius,  in  his  "  Auecdota,"  in  which  he  has  so  many  things 
to  tell  of  the  wickedness  of  women,  refers  as  to  an  undoubted 
fact  to  the  dissolute  life  of  Semiramis  (Ssjutpa^iSoj  axo\al=rov 
/b\oi/.)f  And  our  own  Shakspere  has  embodied  the  spirit  of 
ancient  history  regarding  this  famous  woman  — 

"  Or  wilt  thou  sleep  ?  we'll  have  thee  to  a  couch, 
Softer  and  sweeter  than  the  lustful  bed 
On  purpose  trimm'd  up  for  Semiramis."  % 

*  Diod.  Siculus,"  lib.  n,  c.  13. 

t  Procopius,  "  Auecdota,"  p.  5.    Lipsiae,  1827. 

%  "Taming  of  the  Shrew."     Ind.  sc.  2. 


SCIPIO    AFRICANUS 


The  younger  Scipio  Africanus,  according  to  the  testimony 
of  his  friend  the  historian  Polybius,  which  is  followed  by  Livy 
and  iElian,  was  extremely  beautiful.  His  person  appears  to 
have  indicated  his  amiable  and  elegant  mind.  He  studied  the 
Greek  literature,  and  anticipated  the  cultivation  of  the  age  of 
Augustus.  "  He  had  nothing  of  the  old  Roman  severity  about 
him,"  says  Michelet;  "  his  was  rather  a  Greek  genius  resem- 
bling that  of  Alexander." 

Livy  has  a  passage  about  Scipio,  which  gives  us  a  high 
idea  of  his  prepossessing  personal  appearance,  from  the  im- 
pression which  it  made  on  Massanissa.  He  tells  us  that  Mas- 
eanissa,  being  desirous  of  entering  into  an  alliance  with  the 
Eomans,  had  formed  a  great  admiration  of  Scipio  from  the 
fame  of  his  actions,  and  had  conceived  in  his  mind  that  the 
hero  was  vast  and  stately  in  his  person.  Scipio,  says  the  his- 
torian, had  much  majesty  in  his  nature.  His  hair  was  long 
and  flowing.  His  person  was  not  scrupulously  adorned,  but 
manly  and  truly  military.  Being  then  just  recovered  from 
a  sickness,  he  appeared  as  if  he  had  been  in  the  flower  of  his 
youth.*  Prom  a  passage  in  Tacitus,  in  reference  to  Germ an- 
icus,  we  learn  that  Scipio  walked  without  retinue,  with  uncov- 
ered feet,  and  in  a  similar  dress  with  his  soldiers. f 

*  Livius,  lib.  xxyiii.  t  Tacitus,  "  Annales,"'  n,  c.  69. 

(75) 


SYLLA. 


The  famous  dictator  Sylla  considered  himself,  and  was 
regarded  by  others,  as  a  beauty.  He  had  yellow  hair,  with  a 
complexion  in  which  red  and  white  were  strangely  contrasted. 
His  eyes  were  of  a  lively  blue,  and  fierce  and  threatening. 
Owing  to  the  mixture  of  colors  in  his  face,  Plutarch,  from 
whom  we  have  these  particulars  about  Sylla's  person,  tells  us 
that  a  satirist  of  the  time  compared  it  to  a  mulberry  strewed 
with  flour.  Sylla,  who  believed  himself  to  be  the  handsomest 
man  of  his  time,  grounded  his  claims  mainly  on  his  fine  hair. 
When  the  soothsayers  announced  that  the  troubles  of  Eome 
were  to  be  settled  by  a  man  of  courage  and  superior  beauty, 
Sylla  declared  that  this  could  be  none  other  than  himself;  — 
"  for  my  golden  hair,"  he  said,  "  sufficiently  proves  my  beauty 
—and  after  what  I  have  achieved,  I  need  not  hesitate  in  avow- 
ing myself  a  man  of  courage."* 

Sylla  was  reckoned  the  most  fortunate  man  of  his  times; 
and  we  find  from  the  excuse  which  a  woman  made  for  touch- 
ing him  with  her  hand,  as  he  sat  in  the  theatre,  that  it  was 
with  the  ancients,  as  it  is  with  the  moderns,  considered  lucky 

*  Plutarch,  "Sylla." 

(76) 


SYLLA.  77 

to  touch  a  lucky  person.  From  youth  to  age,  he  was  an  in- 
discreet admirer  of  female  beauty,  and  was  passionately  be- 
loved by  the  sex.  Plutarch  appears  to  be  right  in  believing 
that  he  was  not  naturally  cruel,  notwithstanding  the  crimes 
into  which  his  position  and  desire  to  rule  drove  him.  His  pas- 
sion for  a  country  life,  and  his  actual  retirement  from  the  city, 
and  his  pursuit  of  rural  sports  and  fishing,  are  curious  traits 
in  his  character. 


CLEOPATRA. 


The  charms  of  Cleopatra,  the  renowned  Queen  of  Egypt, 
are  more  celebrated  than  the  beauty  of  any  other  woman 
named  in  history,  with  the  exception  of  Helen  of  Troy.  His- 
torians, hearing  of  her  fascinations,  have  attributed  them  all 
to  mere  face  and  form.  Thus  Dion  assumes  that  she  was  the 
most  beautiful  of  all  women.  Yet,  though  her  perfections 
affected  the  course  of  this  world's  history,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  the  testimony  of  Plutarch,  that  the  beauty  of  her  face 
and  figure  was  not  remarkable  beyond  that  of  women  of  whose 
attraction  less  has  been  said  and  written.  In  stature  she  was 
small.  Michelet  calls  her  "  a  little  wonder ;"  and,  in  his 
usual  picturesque  style,  in  allusion  to  her  having  got  herself 
conveyed  to  Caesar  when  he  was  in  Alexandria,  in  a  bundle 
of  clothes,  says,  "  The  height  of  her  who  was  carried  to 
Caesar,  wrapped  up  in  a  bundle  upon  the  shoulders  of  Apollo- 
dorus,  could  not  have  been  very  imposing."  The  heads  of 
Cleopatra,  on  medals  and  coins,  represent  her  as  bearing  a 
considerable  resemblance  in  features  to  her  second  lover,  An- 
tony.    As   in   him,   the   chin   and  nose   are  rather   hooked, 

(78) 


CLEOPATRA.  79 

threatening  an  unpleasant  approximation  at  an  early  age.  The 
nose  of  Cleopatra  is  also  not  so  decidedly  feminine  as  a  sound 
taste  would  demand. 

All  accounts,  however,  agree  in  attributing  to  Cleopatra  an 
infinite  variety  of  accomplishments,  the  rarest  literary  acquire- 
ments, a  knowledge  of  languages  only  equalled  in  ancient 
times  by  that  attributed  to  Mithridates,  the  marvellous  king 
of  Pontus,  the  finest  taste  in  the  arts,  an  unexplainable  grace 
in  her  manners,  the  most  bewitching  powers  of  conversation, 
and  a  tone  of  voice  which  made  those  powers  irresistible. 
Dion,  who  says  that  she  excelled  all  other  women  in  elegance 
of  form,  tells  us  that  there  was  such  a  grace  in  her  voice,  that 
with  whatever  man  she  spoke,  she  could  wheedle  him  with 
this  charm,  and  could  draw  any  one,  however  averse  to  love 
by  nature  or  years,  to  be  enamored  of  her.* 

Cleopatra  was  in  her  twentieth  year  when  she  captivated 
Julius  Caesar ;  and  she  was  twenty-five  when  Antony  became 
her  admirer.  Antony,  however,  it  is  stated  by  Appian,  when 
he  was  general  of  the  horse  in  Egypt,  under  Gabinius,  had 
seen  Cleopatra,  then  a  child,  and  conceived  a  love  for  her.f 
At  her  death  she  was  in  her  fortieth  year,  and  it  is  evident 
that  at  that  age  she  did  not  despair  of  charming  Augustus ; 
and  if  she  failed  there,  it  is  not  fair  to  attribute  her  want  of 
success  to  any  decay  in  her  powers  of  pleasing,  but  to  her 
having,  in  that  selfish  and  cold-blooded  politician,  the  very 
worst  subject  possible  to  work  upon. 

The  amors  of  Cleopatra  with  Julius,  are  forgotten  by  the 
general  reader  in  the  greater  celebrity  and  greater  historical 
consequences  of  her  love  of  Marc  Antony.  As  I  shall  notice 
in  the  sketch  of  Julius,  Merivale  attributes  a  deteriorating  in- 
fluence over  his  mind  from  his  passion  for  the  Egyptian 
Queen.     I  am  not  able  to  trace  a  false  step  in  all  the  splendid 

*  Dion  Cassius,  "Hist.  Rom."  lib.  xlii,  c.  42,  p.  201. 
f  Appian,  «« De  Bell.  Civ."  lib.  v,  c.  8. 


80  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

career  of  Caesar.  Dion,  however,  gives  support  to  the  opinion 
of  this  excellent  historian,  and  alludes  to  actions  of  Caesar 
which  he  did  purely  out  of  love  to  Cleopatra;  and  he  tells 
us  that  on  their  first  meeting,  Caesar  became  her  slave.  It  is 
a  strong  expression  to  apply  to  one  of  the  most  vigorously 
minded  men  that  ever  lived ;  but  Caesar  was  also  the  most 
refined  man  of  his  time,  and  experience  testifies  that  all  culti- 
vation of  the  mind  only  weakens  its  powers  of  resisting  the 
fascination  of  beauty  and  graceful  manners. 

"  On  women,  nature  did  bestow  two  eyes 

Like  heaven's  bright  lamps  in  matchless  beauty  shining, 

Whose  beams  do  soonest  captivate  the  wise, 

And  learned  heads  made  rare  by  art'a  refining." 

I  have  noticed  the  introduction  of  Cleopatra,  by  stealth, 
into  the  presence  of  Caesar.  When  Apollodorus  laid  down 
his  precious  burden,  there  took  place  a  remarkable  inter- 
view. It  was  an  interview  between  the  two  most  intellectu- 
ally gifted  persons  who  perhaps  ever  met  together,  the  two 
most  accomplished  persons  of  their  age,  perhaps  of  any  age. 
Never  in  this  world,  either  before  or  since,  did  such  a  pair 
meet  in  one  apartment,  in  one  city,  in  one  country.  Nature 
had  prodigally  lavished  all  her  graces  on  both  the  man  and 
the  woman,  and  both  had  cultivated  all  the  faculties  of  their 
minds  with  the  utmost  assiduity  and  the  most  splendid  suc- 
cess. As  has  been  observed  of  others  who  have  fallen  in 
love  together,  there  were  several  points  of  resemblance  be- 
tween the  two.  Both  were  amongst  the  most  learned  per- 
sons of  their  times,  both  had  a  passion  for  an  elegant, 
refined,  and  magnificent  voluptuousness,  both  had  an  orna- 
mental Greek  cast  of  mind,  both  were  of  high  courage, 
both  were  fearless  of  danger  and  death,  and  both  were  irre- 
ligious, or  rather  the  religion  of  both  was  of  that  kind 
which  prevailed  amongst  the  Egyptians  and  the  Greeks,  and 


CLEOPATRA.  81 

which  taught  that  the  certainty  and  quick  approach  of 
death,  and  the  thick  darkness  which  hung  over  the  nature  and 
the  very  existence  of  the  future  and  unseen  world,  were  the 
most  powerful  reasons  for  making  the  best  use  of  the  present ; 
motives  calling  on  them  to  eat,  drink,  and  be  merry,  and  par- 
ticularly to  love ;  that  spirit  which  gives  its  bright  lights  and 
its  deep  shades  to  the  finest  ode  of  Catullus  :  "  Vivamus,  mea 
Lesbia,  et  amenus." 

The  conversation  between  Caesar  and  Cleopatra,  in  all  pro- 
bability, was  carried  on  in  Greek,  being  the  court  language  of 
the  time  ;  and  being  also,  as  we  learn  from  Martial  and  Juve- 
nal and  other  authorities,  the  language  of  love  amongst  the 
Romans. 

Plutarch  represents  Cleopatra  at  twenty-five,  as  feeling  cer- 
tain that  when  she  appeared  before  him,  Antony  would  not  be 
able  to  resist  her  in  the  ripeness  of  her  beauty  and  under- 
standing, seeing  that  when  an  inexperienced  girl,  and  ignorant 
of  the  world,  she  had  made  a  conquest  of  CaBsar  and  of  the 
son  of  Pompey. 

Bayle  is  extremely  pleased  with  this  reasoning  of  Cleopa- 
tra's, and  has  in  more  than  one  place  taken  an  opportunity  of 
enforcing  his  doctrine  of  the  powerlessness  of  mere  beauty  of 
face  and  person  when  not  supported  by  intellectual  resources. 
"  This  argument,"  he  says,  "  is  much  better  than  those  per- 
sons imagine  who  only  talk  about  girls  of  fifteen,  of  roses  half 
blown,  and  with  whom  twenty  is  an  entrance  upon  old  age — 
impertinent  persons,  who  might  easily  discover,  both  by  what 
is  passing  in  their  own  times,  and  by  the  history  of  former 
ages,  that  the  women  wTho  have  most  charmed  great  princes, 
and  have  made  the  greatest  disturbances  in  courts,  were  of  an 
age  which  enabled  them  to  acquire  an  experience  in  business, 
and  to  perfect  their  understanding,  and  that  there   are  few 


4* 


82  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

whose  empire  is  of  long  duration  if  the  graces  of  the  mind  do 
not  second  those  of  the  body."*   • 

And  again,  in  speaking  of  Csesonia,  the  wife  of  Caligula, 
Bayle  says:  "  It  is  strange '  that  this  woman,  being  neither 
young  nor  beautiful,  and  having  already  had  three  children  to 
her  husband,  was  able  to  inspire  a  passion  so  ardent  and  so 
constant  in  this  barbarian ;  but;  however  much  may  be  said 
about  the  first  flower  of  youth,  it  will  be  seen,  if  the  matter 
is  carefully  considered,  that  the  address  and  practice  of  a  wo- 
man of  from  thirty  to  forty  uphold  her  reign  better  when  she 
is  mistress  of  a  prince,  than  the  mere  beauty  of  a  girl 
would  do."f 

Plutarch  lets  us  know  that  Cleopatra  was  neither  younger 
nor  more  beautiful  than  Antony's  virtuous  wife  Octavia ; 
and  founding  upon  this  information,  Brantome  has  gone  the 
length  of  nearly  disallowing  any  beauty  whatever  to  Cleopa- 
tra, and  of  asserting  that  Octavia  was  a  hundred  times  pret- 
tier, and  that  it  was  entirely  Cleopatra's  talk  that  seduced 
Antony.  "  It  was  on  this  account,"  he  says,  "  that  Marc  An- 
tony loved  Cleopatra  so  much,  and  preferred  her  to  his  wife 
Octavia,  who  was  a  hundred  times  more  loveable  (aimable) 
and  beautiful  than  Cleopatra;  but  this  Cleopatra  had  so  deli- 
cate a  discourse  {la parole  si  ajfectee,)  and  her  words  were  so 
much  to  the  purpose,  with  her  loose  fashions  and  graces,  that 
Antony  forgot  every  thing  for  her  love.":}: 

Cleopatra's  voice  has  been  compared  to  an  instrument  of 
many  strings.  There  is  a  voice  in  some  women,  which,  by 
some  not  easily  explainable  sympathy  between  it  and  those 
who  listen  to  it,  will  do  almost  any  thing  ;  it  will  atone  for 
the  want  of  youth  and  beauty,  and  has  a  power  which  may 

*  Bayle.    Art.  "  Dellius." 

f  Bayle.    Art.  "  Caligula." 

t  Brantome,  "  Dames  Galantes,"    (Euvres,  torn,  in,  p.  279. 


CLEOPATRA.  83 

without  a  figure  of  speech  be  called  magical.  It  will  make  a 
set  of  insipid  verses  appear  in  the  reading  to  be  the  poetry  of 
the  heart ;  it  will  carry  through  a  worthless  drama,  and 
make  it  pass  for  a  fine  tragedy. 

It  is  one  half  the  battle  with  an  actress  if  she  appear  on  the 
stage  with  a  voice  of  this  kind.  To  such  a  voice  as  this  it  is 
said  Madame  Eoland  owed  in.  a  great  measure  the  strange 
fascination  which  her  e  oquenCe'  exerted  on  all  who  came  with- 
in the  circle  of  her  attractions. 

Miss  Kavanagh,  following  the  contemporary  authorities, 
has  attempted  to  describe  it.  "  Great  as  was  the  power  of 
her  personal  charms,  it  yielded  to  that  of  her  voice.  Those 
who  had  heard  it  once  could  never  forget  it  again.  The  low, 
clear  tones — so  mellow  and  so  deep — haunted  them  like  a 
strain  of  exquisite  melody  through  years,  long  after  she  who 
gave  them  utterance  had  perished  on  a  scaffold."* 

Madame  Eoland  herself  was  sensible  what  a  gift  this  is,  and 
has  left  it  on  record  that  the  voice  of  her  husband,  "  Eoland 
the  Just,"  was  not  a  well -modulated  one.  To  this  voice  of 
hers,  and  the  infectious  nature  of  political  fanaticism,  Madame 
Roland's  influence  in  her  day  is  chiefly  to  be  attributed.  Her 
character  is  not  an  amiable  one.  I  can  never  read  the  fate 
of  Marie  Antoinette  without  sorrow;  but  I  confess  that  I 
think  that  the  death  of  Madame  Eoland  was  just  a  piece  of 
retributive  justice,  and  I  have  no  pity  to  afford  her. 

The  Eoman  writers  have  used  the  strongest  terms  to  des- 
cribe the  madness  of  Antony's  passion  for  Cleopatra — that 
passion  for  which  it  is  not  an  heroic  exaggeration  to  say  that 
he  lost  the  empire  of  the  world ;  for  he  undoubtedly  entered 
on  the  contest  for  the  prize  with  an  amount  of  favor  and  pop- 
ularity with  the  Romans,  both  citizens  and  soldiers,  of  which 
his  successful  rival  Octavius  was  destitute. 

*  "Women  of  Franco,"  vol.  ii,  p.  141. 


84  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

"  After  the  death  of  Cassius  and  Brutus,"  says  AppiaD, 
"  Caesar  went  to  Italy,  and  Antony  proceeded  to  Asia,  where 
Cleopatra,  the  Queen  of  Egypt,  having  met  him,  instantly  con- 
quered him  at  first  sight ;  and  their  love  brought  destruction 
on  themselves,  and  after  them  entailed  numerous  ills  on  all 
Egypt."*  "  Antony,"  he  says  in  another  place,  "  wounded  in 
soul  at  the  sight  of  her,  presently  began  to  love  her  as  if  he 
were  a  boy,  although  he  was  then  forty  years  of  age,  having, 
as  is  said,  always  had  a  disposition  for  such  passions."! 

The  historian  represents  him  as  throwing  aside  all  the  for- 
mer energy  of  his  nature,  following  only  the  commands  of 
Cleopatra,  with  an  utter  disregard  to  all  laws,  human  and 
divine.  "  All  the  great  army,"  says  the  same  writer,  M  with 
which  Antony  terrified  the  Bactrians  and  the  Indians  more 
remote  than  these,  Cleopatra  alone  rendered  of  no  avail,  for 
out  of  his  desire  for  her  he  did  not  commence  the  war  at  the 
proper  time,  and  he  did  every  thing  without  consideration,  not 
being  master  of  his  senses,  and  so  enslaved  by  the  witchcraft 
of  that  woman,  that  he  thought  not  so  much  of  victory  as  of 
a  speedy  return  to  her.'*;}; 

Dion  speaks  in  a  similar  manner.  "  Antony,  seized  with  the 
love  of  Cleopatra,  cared  nothing  henceforth  for  honour,  but 
served  the  Egyptian  woman. "§  Our  own  Dr.  South,  in  his 
admirable  sermon  on  "ill-disposed  affections  the  cause  of  error 
in  judgment,"  has  noticed  the  weakness  of  Antony  with  his 
usual  vigor  of  language  and  closeness  of  logic.  "  Show  me," 
he  says,  M  so  much  as  one  wise  counsel  of  action  of  Marcus 
Antonius,  a  person  otherwise  both  valiant  and  eloquent,  after 
that  he  had  subdued  his  understanding  to  his  affections,  and 
his  affections  to  Cleopatra  !" 

*  Appian,  "De  Bell.  Civ."   lib  v.  c.  1. 

f  Ibid.  lib.  v.  c.  8. 

J  Appian  "  Parthica."  Opera,  lib.  iv,  p.  276.     Lipsiac,  1829. 

$  Dion,  lib  xlviii,  p.  871. 


CLEOPATRA.  85 

Cleopatra  was  certainly  no  model  of  purity,  but  her  wicked- 
ness has  been  exaggerated  by  the  Roman  writers.  Dion 
speaks  of  her  extreme  general  licentiousness.*  Her  wicked- 
ness and  her  beauty  have  been  exaggerated  in  the  purest  spi- 
rit of  romance  by  Aurelius  Victor,  f  Yet  her  amors  with 
Caesar  and  with  Antony,  and  her  unsuccessful  attempt  upon 
Octavius,  appear  to  have  been  mingled  in  her  mind  with  a 
desire  to  preserve  the  independence  of  her  sovereignty. 
Women  are  generally  religious,  and  much  worse  women 
than  Cleopatra  was — for  she  was  a  saint  in  comparison  with 
many  of  the  Eoman  queens,  even  Christian  queens — have  been 
devout.  This  alleviation  or  aggravation  of  her  guilt,  which- 
ever it  may  be  called,  it  does  not  appear  that  Cleopatra  could 
plead. 

Amongst  her  other  wild  freaks  with  Antony,  Cleopatra,  the 
queen  of  a  deeply  religious  people — the  people  who  had  torn 
in  pieces  the  Roman  soldier  who,  by  accident,  had  killed  a 
sacred  cat — appeared  in  the  garb  and  character  of  the  awful 
Isis — whose  veil,  the  ancient  inscription  said,  no  mortal  had 
ever  removed — while  the  graceless  Antony  acted  the  part  of 
her  Osiris.  « 

Our  notions  of  a  charming  woman  are  terribly  shocked 
when  we  hear  of  Cleopatra,  even  in  the  presence  of  Octavius, 
flying  at  one  of  her  slaves,  and  tearing  his  face  with  her 
nails.  I  do  not  know  if  we  are  more  or  less  shocked  at  this 
than  at  hearing  how  the  philosophical  Cato,  before  proceeding 
to  meditate  with  Plato  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  gave 
his  attendant  a  blow  on  the  mouth  because  he  had  consid- 
erately removed  his  sword,  fearing  that  his  master  was  about 
to  do  himself  a  mischief. 

But  the  ideas  of  different  ages  and  countries   are  very  dis- 

*  Dion,  lib.  LI,  p.  453. 

t  S.  Aurelius  Victor  :  "  Hasc  tantre  libidinis  fuit,  ut  srepe  prostiterit ; 
tantse  pulchritudinis,  ut  multi  noctem  illius  morte  emcrint.'" 


86  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

similar  in  matters  of  this  kind.  Even  in  fiction,  where  the 
writer  has  it  in  his  power  to  make  all  his  great  people  decor- 
ous and  amiable,  we  find,  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights'  Entertain- 
ments," the  most  accomplished  ladies  doing  as  Cleopatra 
did.  Badoura,  the  charming  Princess  of  China,  seizes  her 
nurse  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  and  beats  her  till  her  face  is 
covered  with  blood. 

But  even  in  Cleopatra's  days,  it  is  gratifying  to  find  that 
Ovid,  in  that  book  of  his  "  Art  of  Love,"  which  is  devoted 
to  instructing  the  fair  sex  how  to  make  themselves  agreeable, 
expresses  his  repulsion  to  a  woman  who  loses  her  temper,  and 
beats  or  scratches  her  maid-servant. 

There  was  a  Lucrezia  Gonzagua,  a  learned  woman  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  whose  name  has  descended  to  the  present 
day  with  the  warmest  commendations  of  her  erudition,  virtue 
and  piety.  Her  injudicious  admirers  published  her  epistolary 
correspondence  as  far  as  it  could  be  collected,  including  the 
letters  which  she  wrote  on  her  purely  household  affairs.  A 
quotation  is  made  from  one  of  these  letters  by  Bayle,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  destroy  all  the  reputation  for  goodness 
which  her  friends  have  endeavored  to  rear  up  for  her.  She  is 
writing  to  Lucia,  who  appears  to  have  been  at  the  head  of 
her  domestic  establishment,  about  a  maid,  Livia,  and  says : 
"  If  Livia  is  not  obedient  to  you,  lift  her  petticoats  to  her  head, 
and  whip  her  till  her  flesh  be  blue,  and  the  blood  run  down  to 
her  heels."  Such  letters  as  these,  Bayle  calmly  says,  might 
have  been  suppressed  without  doing  injuryHo  the  writer.*  I 
believe  Lucrezia  Gonzagua  was  an  impudent  woman,  and  a 
hypocrite  in  morality  and  religion. 

Plutarch  has  given  us  a  great  part  of  the  information  which 
we  have  about  Cleopatra.    He  had,  he  tells  us,  picked  up  from 

*  Bayle.  Art.  "'Gonzague,"  [Lucrece.]  "  Se  Livia  non  vi  e  obbedi- 
ente,  alzatele  in  capo  i  drappi  e  datelene  tante  che  le  carni  si  facciano 
livide  e  il  sangue  le  scorra  sino  alle  calcagne  " 


CLEOPATRA.  87 

his  grandfather  all  that  could  be  learned  of  the  history  of  her 
and  Antony ;  and  whilst  Plutarch  is  censurable  for  inaccuracy 
in  dates,  and  in  the  drier  parts  of  history,  this  was  just  a  sub- 
ject on  which  this  peculiarly  interesting  writer  would  be  de- 
sirous of  being  correct,  and  well-informed. 

The  arts  which  Cleopatra  had  practised  through  life  did  not 
desert  her  in  her  final  unsuccessful  struggle.  "  She  played 
boldly,"  says  Merivale,  "  with  the  loaded  die,  and  threw  her 
last  cast  with  a  hand  that  had  never  faltered."*  Her  last 
effort  to  preserve  her  independence  is  well  described  by  Dion. 
When  she  received  Octavius,  she  was  lying  on  a  splendid 
couch,  highly  adorned,  but  in  mourning-weeds;  which,  the 
historian  tells  us,  became  her  wonderfully  well.  She  was  sur- 
rounded by  the  portraits  of  Julius,  and  had  the  letters  of  her 
illustrious  lover  in  her  bosom.  She  wept  and  kissed  the  let- 
ters, and  threw  herself  down  before  the  bust  of  Caesar,  and 
adored  it.  She  then  turned  her  eyes  towards  Octavius,  and 
spoke  to  him  in  those  tones  which  had  melted  the  souls  of  Ju- 
lius and  Antony,  but  they  were  lost  upon  the  heartless  trium- 
vir, who  afterwards  in  cold  blood  murdered  the  boy  whom 
Cleopatra  was  pleased  to  call  the  child  of  Julius. 

The  queen  was  vexed  that  Octavius  said  nothing  about  her 
kingdom,  and  spoke  not  a  wTord  of  love;  she  threw  herself  at 
his  feet,  but  drew  from  him  nothing  but  harsh  reproaches. 
This  was  not  the  language  which  she  had  been  accustomed  to 
hear;  when  she  chose  to  exert  her  powers  of  seducing  and 
pleasing.  OctaviuS,  who  was  anxious  to  prevent  her  from 
committing  suicide,  left  her  in  what  he  believed  to  be  safe 
custody. 

But  Cleopatra  disappointed  the  insolent  conqueror  of  the 
gratification  which  he  had  proposed  to  himself  in  dragging 

*  Merivale,  "  History  of  the  Romans  under  the  Empire,"  in,  p.  336. 
Lond.     1851. 


88  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

along  the  great  enchantress  in  his  triumphal  procession.  She 
had  learnedly  studied  the  nature  of  various  poisons,  in  order 
to  ascertain  which  produced  the  easiest  death.  "  The  true 
euthanasia,"  says  Merivale,  "  she  discovered,  it  is  said,  in  the 
bite  of  the  asp,  which  suffused  the  brain  with  languor  and 
forgetfulness,  and  extinguished  the  faculties  without  any  sense 
of  suffering." 

The  bite  of  the  asp  of  Egypt,  according-  to  the  ancients,  is 
followed  by  a  desire  of  sleep,  and  a  death  without  pain.  An 
asp  wTas  brought  into  the  queen's  apartment,  concealed  in  a 
basket  of  figs.  The  sight  of  her  deliverer  filled  her  with*  joy. 
Cleopatra  died  in  a  manner  characteristic  of  her  elegant  tastes 
— and  the  Roman  writers,  hired  to  load  her  memory  wTith  exe- 
cration, are  unable  to  speak  of  her  last  moments  without  admi- 
ration. She  adorned  herself  in  her  richest  robes,  and  had  the 
dead  body  of  Antony  placed  beside  her  on  a  golden  couch. 
She  anointed  herself  with  perfumes,  while  her  maids  placed 
the  royal  diadem  of  Egypt  on  her  head.  She  then  applied  the 
asp  to  her  veins,  and  slept  into  death. 

The  anointing  of  the  body  with  perfumes  was  an  ancient 
mode  of  preparing  for  death.  Frenshemius,  in  a  note  on 
the  passage  in  Florus,  in  which  the  historian  notices  the 
death  of  Cleopatra,  remarks  that  the  practice  is  not  con- 
demned by  our  Saviour.  The  reference  of  the  commentator 
is  to  that  pathetic  and  beautiful  passage  in  the  Gospel 
where,  when  the  disciples  murmured  against  the  woman  who 
poured  the  alabaster-box  of  precious  ointment  on  his  head, 
our  Lord  says,  "  Why  trouble  ye  the  woman  ?  for  she  hath 
wrought  a  good  wTork  upon  me.  For  in  that  she  hath  poured 
this  ointment  on  my  head,  she  did  it  for  my  burial.  Verily  I 
say  unto  you,  wheresoever  this  Gospel  shall  be  preached  in 
the  whole  world,  there  shall  also  this  which  this  woman  hath 
done  be  told  for  a  memorial  of  her." 

The  scene  after  Cleopatra's  death  is  described  by  Plutarch 


CLEOPATRA.  89 

with  great  picturesque  beauty.  When  the  officers  of  Augus- 
tus burst  into  the  apartment,  Cleopatra  was  dead,  and  her 
maid  Iras  had  also  expired  at  her  feet.  Charmion,  the  other 
maid,  half-fainting,  was  placing  the  diadem  aright  on  the 
queen's  brow.  "  Was  this  well  done  ?"  said  one  of  the  offi- 
cers. "  Perfectly  well,"  said  Charmion,  "  and  worthy  the 
daughter  of  the  King  of  Egypt,"  and  Charmion  then  fell  down 
dead. 

There  were  no  discoloration s  or  spots,  the  usual  indications 
of  poison,  to  be  found  on  the  body  of  Cleopatra.  The  marks 
of  two  small  punctures  were,  it  is  said,  discovered  on  her  arm 
— and  Octavius  employed  the  Egyptian  serpent-charmers  in 
the  vain  attempt  to  bring  her  to  life  again. 

In  the  triumphal  procession  of  the  conqueror,  the  image  of 
Cleopatra  had  two  serpents  twined  about  the  arms.  A  golden 
statue  of  her  was  placed  in  the  temple  of  Venus,  round  the 
walls  of  which  several  ornaments,  which  belonged  to  her,  were 
suspended. 

Mrs.  Jameson,  in  describing  the  Cleopatra  of  Shakspeare, 
has  described  the  real  Cleopatra.  "  Her  mental  accomplish- 
ments, her  unequalled  graces,  her  woman's  wit  and  woman's 
wiles,  her  irresistible  allurements,  her  starts  of  irregular 
grandeur,  her  bursts  of  ungovernable  temper,  her  vivacity  of 
imagination,  her  petulant  caprice,  her  fickleness  and  her  false- 
hood, her  tenderness  and  her  truth,  her  childish  susceptibility 
to  flattery,  her  magnificent  spirit,  her  royal  pride,  the  gor- 
geous Eastern  coloring  of  her  character — all  these  contradic- 
tory elements  has  Shakspeare  seized,  mingled  them  in  their 
extremes,  and  fused  them  into  one  brilliant  impersonation 
of  classical  elegance,  oriental  voluptuousness,  and  gipsey 
sorcery."* 

*  u  Characteristics  of  Women,"  vol.  n,  p.  123. 


JULIUS     C^ESAEr 


We  have,  fortunately,  a  complete-enough  portrait  of  Julius 
Caesar,  and  we  know  a  good  deal,  though  not  nearly  so  much 
as  it  would  be  desirable  that  we  knew,  of  his  habits  and  mode 
of  life.  He  was  a  tall,  slender,  well-made  man,  with  a  long 
pale  face ;  his  brow  was  high  but  not  broad ;  he  had  dark, 
sparkling  eyes,  and  his  mouth  was  rather  large.  "A  slight 
puffing  of  the  under  lip,"  says  Merivale,  "  which  may  be 
traced  in  some  of  his  best  busts,  must  undoubtedly  have  de- 
tracted from  the  admirable  contour  of  his  countenance."  Yet 
he  was  still  reckoned  handsome,  and  in  his  moments  of 
vanity  he  delighted  to  trace  his  descent  through  his  ancestor, 
lulus,  to  the  love  of  the  goddess  of  beauty  for  the  mortal  An- 
chises ;  while  the  name  of  his  ancestress,  Venus,  was  actually 
stamped  on  some  of  his  coins. 

His  features,  it  is  said,  had  something  of  the  feminine 
grace  which  afterwards  appeared  in  his  nephew  Octavius. 
Velleius  Paterculus,  who,  however,  is  accused  of  flattering 
the  emperors,  tells  us  that  Julius  was  the  most  eminent  in 
beauty  of  all  the  citizens.*     His  coins  and  busts  represent  him 

*  Velleius  Pater.  "  Hist.  Rom."  lib.  n,  p.  149.     Lugd.  Bat.  1653. 

(90) 


JULIUS   CAESAR.  91 

in  his  declining  years,  when  his  brow  wTas  furrowed  with  deep 
and  painful  thought,  and  when  the  alternate  military  severity 
and  licentious  indulgence  of  his  early  life  had  brought  on  pre- 
mature decay.  In  youth  he  had  in  a  great  measure  deserved 
the  praise  of  Velleius.  It  was  then  that  he  affected  that  care- 
lessness in  dress,  in  reference  to  which  Sylla  was  constantly 
urging  the  aristocracy — none  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of 
himself,  was  capable  of  measuring  the  grandeur  of  Caesar's 
soul,  or  the  vastness  of  the  ambition  by  which  it  was  devoured 
— to  beware  of  "  the  ill-girt  boy"  (puerum  male  prcecinctum.)* 

Julius,  however,  when  a  youth,  might,  out  of  policy  indulge 
in  the  loose  dress  of  the  debauchees  of  the  time,  while  he  was 
secretly  meditating  schemes  of  future  greatness  ;  or,  possibly, 
while  pursuing  his  pleasures,  a  negligence  in  matters  of  dress 
might  be  part  of  his  system.  Ovid,  living  very  near  his  time, 
has  expressly  recommended  carelessness  of  costume  as  a  means 
of  attraction,  alleging  that  it  was  by  a  total  neglect  of  hair- 
dressing,  and  such  like  fopperies,  that  Theseus  had  won  the 
beautiful  Ariadne ;  and  that  the  greatest  achievements  in 
conquering  hearts  had  been  made  by  men  who  took  no  pains 
in  adorning  their  persons.! 

Michelet,  in  his  history  of  Eome,  has  a  fine  picture  of  Caesar. 
"  I  should  like,"  he  says,  "  to  have  seen  this  white  and  pale 
figure,  faded  before  its  time  by  the  debauches  of  Eome,  this 
delicate  epileptic  man,  marching  under  the  rains  of  Gaul,  at 
the  head  of  his  legions,  swimming  over  rivers,  or  riding  on 
horseback  between  the  litters  in  which  his  secretaries  were 
carried."  Seutonius,  in  a  short  chapter,  (the  fifty-seventh,) 
has  furnished  the  idea  so  beautifully  brought  out  here. 

In  manhood,  and  in  his  latter  years,  the  once  "  ill-girt  boy" 
paid  attention  to  the  neatness  of  his  attire.  He  shaved  care- 
fully— there  is  no  bust  or  coin  of  Csesar  with  a  beard — he  was 

#  Seutonius,  "  Julius,"  c.  45.  t  Ovid,  "  Ars.  Amat."  lib.  i. 


92  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

fond  of  gems  and  jewels,  and  loved  a  becoming  magnificence 
in  his  houses. 

Caesar,  though  his  health  was  generally  good,  was  subject 
to  starting  in  his  sleep,  to  fainting,  and  to  the  falling  sickness, 
having  twice  been  seized  with  epilepsy  in  public.  This  latter 
malady  is  generally  found  in  connection  with  feebleness  of 
mind,  or  rather  tends  to  induce  mental  weakness.  Merivale, 
in  noticing  the  case  of  Caesar,  mentions  that  Napoleon  had 
attacks  of  epilepsy.  Caesar's  intellect  certainly  is  amongst  the 
very  highest  that  ever  shone  upon  the  world.  The  story  that 
Mahomet,  a  man  of  the  most  vigorous  mind,  was  subject  to 
falling  sickness,  is  unknown  to  genuine  history,  being  a  fable 
invented  by  his  Christian  opponents. 

Csesar's  baldness,  with  the  notion  which  the  ancients  at- 
tached to  the  falling  of  the  hair  from  the  head,  subjected 
him  to  much  ridicule.  His  soldiers,  when  they  accom- 
panied him  in  his  Gallic  triumph,  with  the  license  ac- 
corded to  them  on  such  occasions,  did  not  fail  to  jeer  him  on 
this  score.*  He  tried  as  far  as  he  could  to  conceal  this  defect 
by  bringing  forward  his  hair ;  and,  as  I  have  elsewThere  no- 
ticed, of  all  the  honors  conferred  upon  him  by  the  Senate,  that 
which  most  delighted  his  heart  was  the  right  of  continually 
wearing  the  laurel  wreath  round  his  brows. 

The  historians  who  have  most  severely  censured  Caesar's 
want  of  chastity,  have  allowed  that  he  was  temperate  in  eat- 
ing and  drinking.f 

Caesar's  eloquence  was  of  the  very  highest  and  most  effective 
order.  Cicero  confessed  that  he  did  not  know  any  orator  to 
whom  Caesar  ought  to  give  place.  He  spoke,  we  are  told, 
\rith  a  shrill  voice,  and  used  much  gesture,  but  with  great 
gracefulness.  His  language  was  just  what  might  have  been 
expected  of  him — the  image  of  his  mind.      It  was,  according 

*  Suetonius,  "Julius,"  c.  51. 
t  Ibid.  c.  53. 


JULIUS    CAESAR.  93 

to  Cicero,  <{  elegant,  and  splendid,  and  magnificent,  and  gen- 
erous."* 

The  horses  of  great  warriors  become  the  subjects  of  history. 
Caesar's  favorite  horse,  it  is  gravely  said,  had  feet  almost  like 
those  of  a  man,  the  hoofs  being  divided  into  toes.  He  had 
been  reared  with  great  care,  as  the  augurs  had  predicted  that 
the  owner  of  this  strange  animal  would  become  the  master  of 
the  world.  Amongst  the  presages  of  Caesar's  death,  we  are 
told  by  Suetonius,  that  the  horses  which  he  had  let  loose  to 
graze  refused  to  eat  their  food,  and  shed  tears  abundantly ;  as 
Homer,  in  a  very  tender  passage,  represents  the  horses  of 
Achilles  weeping  bitterly  for  the  death  of  their  charioteer.  In 
some  of  the  poems  about  the  Cid,  the  Cid's  horse,  Babieca, 
comes  to  see  his  master  die,  and  sheds  tears  as  he  follows  his 
funeral. 

Julius,  says  Velleius,  had  "a  soul  elevated  beyond  human 
nature  and  belief."  Certainly,  after  allowing  all  the  defects 
which  the  most  severe  criticism  has  been  able  to  discover  in 
his  character,  it  still  remains  one  of  the  most  wonderfully  great 
and  symmetrical  in  history,  presenting  a  union  of  strength  and 
energy  with  gracefulness,  elegance  and  refinement,  such  as 
have  neither  before  nor  since  been  met  with  in  one  man. 

From  the  time  that,  when  a  mere  boy,  he — and  he  alone — 
offered  resistance  to  the  tyranny  of  Sylla  and  the  aristocracy, 
till  he  rose  to  the  head  of  the  empire,  it  is  difficult  to  detect 
one  single  error,  or  one  false  step  in  the  whole  of  his  splendid 
career.  He  gathered  together  the  fragments  of  the  popular 
party,  scattered  and  downtrodden  after  the  death  of  Marius, 
and  led  them  on,  without  a  single  repulse,  to  the  final  over- 
throw of  the  aristocracy.  Though  no  one  on  whom  it  was 
ever  bestowed  better  merited  the  title  of  the  "father  of  his 
country,"  which  a  grateful  people  bestowed  upon  him,  it  is 

*  Suetonius,  "Julius,"  55. 


94  CLASSIC   AND    HISTOKIC    PORTRAITS. 

his  higher  praise  that  in  him  the  feelings  of  patriotism  were 
mingled  with  aspirations  for  the  good  of  all  mankind.  He 
protected  the  peaceable  citizen  from  the  tyranny  of  the  noble, 
and  the  inhabitant  of  the  most  remote  province  of  Rome  just- 
ly regarded  Caesar  as  his  friend. 

Strangers  of  all  nations  bewailed  his  death ;  his  tomb  was 
visited,  with  lamentations,  night  after  night  by  the  Jews,  ab- 
horred by  the  Eomans,  and  oppressed  by  them  all  but  by 
Caesar.  He  may  even  be  said  to  have,  by  anticipation,  taken 
a  generous  revenge  on  his  cowardly  assassins.  There  was 
scarcely  one  of  them  whom  he  had  not  overwhelmed  with 
favors.  He  had  spared  the  life  of  Marcus  Brutus,  and  taken 
him  to  his  bosom  after  he  had  forfeited  pardon  by  appearing 
against  him  in  arms.  Decimus  Brutus  he  had  made  one  of 
his  heirs. 

Michelet  powerfully  describes  the  sensation  created  in  Borne 
by  his  death,  accomplished  with  such  treachery.  "  The  con- 
spirators thought  that  twenty  poignard  stabs  had  sufficiently 
killed  Caesar,  yet  never  was  Caesar  more  alive,  more  powerful, 
more  terrible  than  when  his  old  and  worn-out  body,  his  with- 
ered corpse,  lay  pierced  with  wounds.  He  appeared  then, 
purified,  redeemed,  that  which  he  had  ever  been,  despite  his 
many  stains — the  man  of  humanity.  An  actor  having  pro- 
nouDced  in  the  theatre  this  verse  of  a  tragedy — '  Men'  men' 
servasse  ut  essent  qui  me  perderent,'  every  eye  was  filled  with 
tears,  and  a  storm  of  sobs  and  cries  burst  forth." 

The  greatest  soldier  and  the  most  profound  statesman 
of  his  age,  was  eminently,  as  Michelet  calls  him,  "  the  man 
of  humanity." 

Merivale,  who  has  done  justice  to  his  virtues,  imagines  that 
he  can  trace  in  the  conduct  and  temper  of  Caesar  a  change  for 
the  worse  after  he  became  acquainted  with  Cleopatra.  This 
excellent  historian  expresses  himself  strongly  on  this  point — 
misled,  as  I  think,  by  a  laudable  desire  to  "  point  a  moral." 


JULIUS    C^ESAK.  95 

"  If  from  henceforth,"  he  says,  "  we  find  his  generosity- 
tinged  with  ostentation,  his  courage  with  arrogance,  his 
resolution  with  harshness ;  if  he  becomes  restless  and  fretful, 
and  impatient  of  contradiction  ;  if  his  conduct  is  marked  with 
contempt  for  mankind  rather  than  with  indulgence  to  their 
weaknesses,  it  is  to  this  impure  source  that  the  melancholy 
change  is  to  be  traced."  Now  Caesar  did  not  become 
acquainted  with  Cleopatra  till  the  power  of  the  aristocracy, 
against  which  he  had  contended,  was  broken  for  ever  on  the 
field  of  Pharsalia. 

After  he  had  attained  to  the  utmost  height  of  greatness  that 
even  his  splendid  ambition  could  have  sighed  for,  he  appears 
to  have  been  filled  with  a  sad  feeling  of  the  unsatisfactory  na- 
ture of  all  earthly  glory,  and  to  have  experienced  the  sure 
disappointment  which  awaits  the  fulfilment  of  human  wishes — 
the  curse  which  falls  on  the  man  who  has  all  his  desires  grati- 
fied. He  became  melancholy,  careless  of  his  now  declining 
years,  and  regardless  of  his  personal  safety.  He  expressed 
his  desire  for  death  rather  than  life,  preferring  to  fall  by 
treachery  to  being  troubled  to  guard  against  it. 

His  life,  he  said  with  truth,  was  of  more  value  to  his  coun- 
try than  to  himself,  and  he  obstinately  refused  to  take  any 
precautions  whatever  against  the  designs  of  his  enemies  and 
false  friends.  When  warned  particularly  against  Brutus,  he 
said,  "  Brutus  will  wait  for  the  end  of  this  weak  body."  His 
murder,  calamitous  to  the  empire,  could  scarcely  be  called 
unfortunate  to  himself.  His  prayer  had  been  to  be  saved  from 
a  slow  decay,  and  that  his  death  might  be  sudden,  quick  and 
unforeseen.*  Heaven,  which  had  granted  him  success  in 
every  action  of  his  life,  might  be  said  to  have  gratified  him  in 
the  manner  in  which  he  terminated  it. 

Merivale  remarks  that  on  the  coins  which  Brutus  stamped 

*  Suetonius,  "  Julius,"  c.  87. 


96  '  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

with  his  effigy  on  one  side,  and  a  cap  of  liberty  between  two 
daggers  on  the  other,  "  the  tyrannicide's  face  is  thin,  and 
bears  out  the  famous  saying  of  Caesar  regarding  both  him  and 
Cassius." 

Michelet  says  that  Brutus  had  "  a  narrow  forehead."  I 
presume  the  expression  is  used  as  a  figure  of  speech  for  a 
slender  understanding,  which  that  weak  tool  of  the  aristocracy 
certainly  had. 


AUGUSTUS. 


The  great  personal  beauty  of  Augustus  is  matter  of  estab- 
lished history.  Suetonius  has  used  the  strongest  terms  in  de- 
scribing the  comeliness  which  distinguished  him  at  every 
period  of  his  life.  In  his  entertainments,  at  which  he  and  his 
friends  appeared  in  the  characters  of  the  gods  and  goddesses, 
the  part  of  Octavius  was  to  represent  the  graceful  Apollo. 
From  an  affectation  of  modesty,  Octavius  melted  down  all 
the  silver  statues  that  were  erected  in  his  honor,  and  dedicated 
the  value  of  them  in  the  form  of  golden  tripods  to  the  Palatine 
Apollo.  He  could  act  the  humble  patriot  like  Julius,  and 
when  the  people  were  violently  forcing  the  dictatorship  on 
him,  he  fell  on  his  knees,  and  uncovering  his  shoulders  and 
breast,  refused  the  honor. 

Augustus  was  of  rather  short  stature,  but  this  was  so  far 
concealed  by  his  extremely  symmetrical  figure,  and  was  not, 
as  Suetonius  tells  us,  well  perceived  except  when  a  tall  man 
stood  beside  him.  Besides  this,  he  wore  high  shoes  in  order 
that  he  might  appear  taller  than  he  was — a  fashion  which  we 
learn  was  universal  amongst  the  ancient  princes  of  Persia, 
where  great  stature  was  considered  an  attribute  of  royalty. 
The  features  of  Augustus  were  full  of  majesty,  with  something 
5  (97) 


98  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

of  a  feminine  delicacy  in  them,  particularly  in  the  mouth  and 
chin,  and  their  expression  was  that  of  great  calmness  and  tran- 
quillity. His  complexion  was  between  brown  and  fair.  His 
yellowish  hair  was  slightly  curled,  and  he  was  careless  of 
dressing  it,  as  he  was  of  his  toilet  altogether.  His  beard  he 
sometimes  had  clipped  and  sometimes  shaved,  and  these  opera- 
tions were  performed  while  he  was  engaged  in  reading  or 
writing.* 

Suetonius  has  noticed  the  lustre  of  the  emperor's  large 
eyes  :  Pliny  tells  us  that  they  were  blue.  Aurelius  Victor, 
following  Suetonius,  has  referred  still  more  distinctly  to  the 
emperor's  belief  in  their  dazzling  brightness.  "In  all  his  per- 
son," says  the  historian,  "  he  was  beautiful,  but  particularly 
so  in  his  eyes.  He  darted  their  light  like  that  of  the  brightest 
stars,  and  was  willing  that  others  looking  at  him  should  be 
struck  by  his  glance  as  by  the  rays  of  the  sun.  A  soldier 
having  turned  away  from  him,  on  being  asked  by  the  emperor 
why  he  did  so,  replied,  '  Because  I  cannot  suffer  the  lightning 
of  your  eyes.'  "  Such  compliments  have  been  but  rarely  paid 
to  men  ;  but  this  was  a  prudent  soldier,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  he  got  rapid  promotion. 

Augustus's  eyebrows  were  joined,  a  feature  delightful  to 
the  ancients  and  repulsive  to  the  moderns.  The  passion  of 
the  ancients  was  for  eyebrows  between  which  the  separation 
was  barely  perceptible.  "  Do  not,"  says  Anacreon,  in  his 
directions  to  the  painter  how  to  paint  his  mistress,  "  do  not 
separate  the  eyebrows  nor  fairly  join  them,  but  let  her  picture 
have,  as  she  has,  the  eyebrows  indiscernibly  running  into  each 
other."f 

The  emperor's  ears  were  of  the  middle  size ;  his  nose  was 
elevated  in  the  upper  part,  and  drawn  more  slenderly  below. 
With  all  the  points  of  beauty  which  were  met  in  him,  the  pic- 
torial Suetonius,  like  a  faithful  artist,  tells  us  that  Augustus's 

*  Suetonius,  *'  Octavius,"   c.  79.  t  Anacreon.  Od.  xxvni. 


AUGUSTUS.  99 

teeth  were  few,  small,  and  uneven;  that  in  his  latter  years 
he  partially  lost  the  sight  of  his  left  eye  •  that  he  had  a  weak- 
ness in  his  left  side,  and  often  halted  on  the  left  leg,  and  some- 
times had  not  the  use  of  the  forefinger  of  his  right  hand.  The 
health  of  Augustus  was  weak ;  he  was  afflicted  with  gravel ; 
he  could  neither  endure  great  heat  nor  great  cold,  and  never 
went  out  of  doors  even  under  the  winter  sun  without  a  broad 
covering  on  his  head.  There  were  some  roughnesses  on  his 
skin  arising  from  prickling,  which  by  the  assiduous  use  of 
brushing  were  gathered  together  in  the  form  of  ringworm. 
We  need  not  credit  as  any  thing  better  than  a  mere  story, 
as  indeed  Suetonius  calls  it,  that  the  emperor  had  spots  on 
his  breast  and  belly  disposed  in  the  order  and  number  of  the 
stars  in  the  constellation  of  the  Bear. 

Augustus  excelled  all  who  preceded  him  in  the  frequency, 
variety,  and  magnificence  of  the  public  spectacles  with  which 
he  entertained  the  people.  In  his  youth  he  loved  to  have  about 
him  the  most  splendid  Corinthian  furniture,  but  in  his  mature 
years  he  studied  plainness  in  every  thing.  His  beds  and  tables 
scarcely  equalled  the  elegance  of  those  in  private  houses.  He 
wore  the  clothes  that  were  spun  for  him  by  his  wife,  his 
daughter,  and  his  nieces.  His  toga  was  neither  tight  nor 
loose ;  his  robe  was  not  narrow,  neither  was  it  broad,  like 
those  of  the  nobles.* 

Augustus  caused  his  too  famous  daughter  Julia,  and  his 
nieces  Julia  and  Agrippina,  to  be  taught  spinning — no  doubt 
from  a  sincere  desire  to  keep  them  in  the  paths  of  virtue.  In 
Rome,  from  the  days  of  the  chaste  Lucretia,  the  practice  of 
spinning  was  considered  an  evidence  of  virtue ;  and  the  eulo- 
gium  inscribed  on  a  matron's  tomb  was,  that  she  'kept  the 
house  and  spun  wool.  But  Augustus,  fortunate  in  every 
thing  else,  was  unhappy  in  his  family.      The  daughters  of 

*  Suetonius,  "  Octavius,"  c.  73. 


100  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Charlemagne  had  been  brought  up  in  the  same  way,  and  yet 
their  good  names  have  not  escaped  the  breath  of  scandal. 

An  industrious  life,  such  as  Augustus  assigned  to  the  wo- 
men of  his  household,  is  generally  an  innocent  one  ;  and  love 
in  particular  has  been  called  by  a  wise  ancient  "  the  affection 
of  an  indolent  soul."  Nevertheless,  the  two  Julias  and  Agrip- 
pina  became  the  most  abandoned  women  in  Home  ;  the  con- 
duct of  the  Julias  having  in  after-times  been  referred  .to  as 
confirming  the  belief  that  women  of  that  name  are  unchaste. 
The  profligacy  of  the  learned  and  philosophical  Julia,  the  wife 
of  Septimus  Severus,  gave  additional  authority  to  this  silly 
notion.  Upon  this  point,  Brantome  tells  us  that  the  virtuous 
Severus,  when  reproached  with  the  frailty  of  his  queen,  used 
to  say  that  "  her  name  is  Julia,  and  therefore  she  must  be  ex- 
cused, as  all  women  of  that  name,  from  the  remotest  antiqui- 
ty have  been  subject  to  great  weakness."* 

Brantome  goes  farther,  and  declares  that  there  are  certain 
names  amongst  Christian  women,  which  subject  those  who 
bear  them  to  the  fate  of  becoming  licentious ;  but  that  from 
the  reverence  which  he  owes  to  our  holy  religion,  he  will  not 
mention  what  these  names  are. 

Augustus  ate  little,  and  only  of  the  plainest  food ;  using 
bread  of  a  coarse  quality,  with  fish,  cheese,  and  green  figs. 
He  was  moderate  in  the  use  of  wine,  preferring  that  of  Khsetia. 
To  quench  his  thirst  he  made  use  of  bread  steeped  in  cold 
water,  or  a  piece  of  cucumber,  or  young  lettuce-sprouts,  or  a 
fresh  and  acid  apple  with  a  winy  juice. 

During  supper,  Augustus  loved  to  have  plays  acted,  or  to 
see  other  entertainments  of  an  amusing  character.  He  is 
charged  with  being  too  much  addicted  to  playing  at  dice.  On 
the    ground   of  this   passion  for  gambling,    Cardan,   in   his 

Brantome,  "  Dames  Galantes."  GSuvres,  torn,  in,  p.  35.  Bayle,  -who 
has  noticed  this  remark  of  Brantome,  says  that  he  has  not  found  it  in  any 
ancient  historian  — Dictiox.  Hist,  et  Ckit      Art.  Julie, 


AUGUSTUS.  101 

Eulogium  of  Nero,  contends  that  Nero  was  a  much  better 
man  than  Augustus,  as  he  did.  not  gamble,  but  played  on  the 
narp. 

After  his  mid-day  meal,  the  emperor  was  accustomed  to 
retire  to  rest  with  his  dress  and  shoes  "on,  cfi^er'lnjv  -His  'tyes 
with  his  hand.  Before  retiring  for  the  night,  he  finished  his 
daily  writing.  His  sleep  never  exceeded  seven  hours  ;  and  in 
the  course  of  that  rest,  he  would  awake  three  or  four  times, 
and  call  his  attendants  to  read  to  him,  or  tell  him  stories.f 

Augustus,  who  constitutionally  was  a  coward  on  the  field 
of  battle,  was  from  superstition  terribly  frightened  at  thunder 
and  lightning,  and  constantly  wore  about  his  person  the  skin 
of  a  sea-calf,  as  a  protection  against  them ;  while  at  the  least 
token  of  an  approaching  storm,  he  used  to  shut  himself  up  in 
a  concealed  place.  He  attended  carefully  to  his  own  dreams, 
and  those  of  others,  and  acted  upon  the  interpretation  of  them 
by  the  soothsayers.  During  spring,  it  has  been  remarked,  his 
dreams  were  frequent,  and  very  terrible ;  at  other  times  they 
were  rarer,  and  less  wild.  He  studied  seriously  all  auspices 
and  omens ;  if  a  dew  fell  as  he  set  out  on  a  journey,  he  felt 
assured  that  it  boded  success ;  if  he  put  on  his  left  shoe 
instead  of  his  right  of  a  morning,  he  looked  for  evil  fortune  for 
that  day4 

The  habits  of  Augustus,  as  a  man  of  business  and  of  litera- 
ture, as  they  are  recorded  by  Suetonius,  are  exceedingly  in- 
teresting. In  the  earlier  part  of  his  reign,  we  are  told  he  used 
as  his  seal  a  sphynx  (highly  characteristic  certainly  of  his  am- 
biguous character  ;)  afterwards  he  adopted  a  figure  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great,  and  lastly  his  own  portrait.     In  dating  his 

*  Hier.  Cardani.  "Neronis  Encomium,"  p.  42.  Amst.  1640. 
f  Suetonius,  "Octavius,"  c.  74,  76,  77,  78. 
X  Suetonius,  "  Octavius,"  c,  16,90,  91,  92. 


102  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

letters,  he  marked  upon  them  not  only  the  day  or  night,  but 
the  hour  and  the  minute  at  which  they  were  dispatched.* 

'A*  remarkable  rfrcum stance  is  related  in  reference  to  the 
propriety  and  precision. of  his  discourse.  When  he  had  to 
Tspe^k  feygq  in- private" on  important  matters,  he  wrote  down 
and  read  what  he  had  to  say ;  and  he  practised  this  kind  of 
discourse  even  with  his  beloved  Livia.  He  studied  elocution 
under  a  master ;  his  voice  was  sweet,  but  occasionally,  from 
sore  throat,  he  was  obliged  to  make  his  public  harangues 
through  a  crier,  f 

I  do  not  know  whether  or  not  he  read  his  lectures  to  Julia 
from  a  paper,  but  they  appear  to  have  all  the  inefficiency  popu- 
larly charged  upon  written  sermons.  He  forbade  her  the  use 
of  wine  and  of  fine  clothes,  and  kept  a  strict  watch  over  all  of 
the  other  sex  who  had  access  to  see  her.  But  all  was  in  vain  ; 
and  after  deliberating  whether  he  should  not  use  the  Roman 
father's  right  of  putting  his  child  to  death,  he  sent  her  into 
perpetual  banishment.  His  daughter  and  his  nieces  he  used 
to  call,  by  a  strong  figure  of  speech,  his  three  misfortunes  his 
three  cancers.]: 

Augustus's  eloquence  was  elegant  and  chaste.  Tacitus 
and  Aulus  Gellius  have  joined  with  Suetonius  in  praising  its 
excellence.  He  avoided  the  offensiveness  (fcztwes,  as  he  called  it) 
of  recondite  words,  says  Suetonius.  It  is  this  passage  in  Sue- 
tonius, I  have  no  doubt,  that  has  led  Babel ais  to  attribute  to 
Octavius  the  saying  of  the  greater  Julius,  who,  in  the  first 
book  of  his  lost  work,  "  De  Analogia" — "  Avoid  as  a  rock  all 
unheard  and  unusual  wTords."§     The  passage  from  Caesar  is 

*  Suetonius,  "  Octavius,"  c.  50. 

f  Suetonius,  "  Octavius."  c  84. 

%  Ibid.  c.  65. 

$  "  Habe  semper  in  memoria  atque  in  pectore  ut  tamquam  scopulum, 
sic  fugias  inauditum  atque  insolens  verbum." — Caesar,  quoted  by  Atjltjs 
Gellius,  lib.  i,  c.  10. 


AUGUSTUS.  103 

quoted  from  Aulas  Gellius,  to  whom  Babelais  expressly  re- 
fers ;  but  this  very  learned  man  had  trusted  to  his  memory, 
without  looking  at  his  authority.* 

The  style  of  Augustus,  as  described  by  Suetonius,  would 
serve  as  a  criticism  on  Cobbett.  He  used  to  ridicule  the  nice- 
ties of  Maecenas,  and  the  obsolete  and  out-of-the-way  language 
of  Tiberius ;  and  accused  Antony  of  writing  in  such  a  way  as 
to  excite  wonder  rather  than  to  be  understood,  and  of  using 
an  eastern  profusion  of  language.  It  appears,  also,  that  he 
felt  called  on  to  correct  the  slovenly  literature  and  elocution, 
as  well  as  the  loose  morals,  of  his  niece  Agrippina.f 

Suetonius  has  given  us  a  minute  account  of  the  peculiarities 
used  by  Augustus  in  his  hand-writing,  and  of  the  singularities 
which  he  affected-  in  orthography. 

Augustus,  who  had  often  prayed  for  a  sudden  and  easy 
death,  had  his  prayer  granted,  ^hen  he  felt  his  end  ap- 
proaching, he  called  for  his  mirror,  and  caused  himself  to  be 
adorned  and  have  his  hair  dressed.  Then  asking  his  friends 
if  the  farce  of  life  had  been  well  played,  he  bade  them,  quoting 
a  Greek  verse,  give  him  the  due  applause.  Only  once  in  the 
course  of  his  short  illness,  his  mind  exhibited  any  wandering, 
when  he  started  in  terror  and  complained  that  forty  young 
men  were  carrying  him  off.  The  impression,  says  Suetonius, 
was  prophetic  ;  his  body  wras  removed  by  forty  of  the  Praeto- 
rian soldiers.  He  expired  kissing  Livia,  with  the  words  on 
his  lips,  "  Live  mindful  of  our  marriage,  and  farewell."^: 

*  "  Ce  que  diet  le  philosophe  et  Aule  Gelle  qu  il  nous  conuient  parler 
scion  lelanguaige  usite.  Et  comrae  disoit  Octauian  Auguste,  qu  il  faut 
euiter  les  motz  espaues,  en  pareille  diligence  que  les  patrons  de  nauire 
ouitentles  rochiers  de  mer." — Rabelais,  "  Pantagruel,"  lib.  n,  c.  6. 

f  Suetonius,    "  Octavius,"  c.  86.  / 

|  Ibid.  c.  99. 


TIBEEIITS 


Tiberius,  the  most  cold-blooded  and  hateful  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  was  a  man  of  tall  stature,  with  broad  shoulders  and 
chest,  and  well  proportioned  limbs.  He  was  a  left-handed  man ; 
and  with  a  finger,  we  are  told,  he  could  pierce  through  a  fresh 
apple,  and  could  inflict  a  wound  on  the  head  of  a  boy  with  a 
filip.  This  is  the  picture  of  Tiberius  drawn  by  Suetonius, 
and  referring  to  the  best  days  of  his  manhood.  In  old  age, 
as  he  is  described  by  Tacitus,  he  grew  thin.  His  complexion, 
Suetonius  tells  us,  was  fair,  and  his  face  handsome,  though 
disfigured  by  blotches.  His  eyes  were  very  large,  but  dull 
and  heavy  during  the  day ;  while,  like  the  treacherous  beasts 
of  prey,  which  in  his  character  he  so  much  resembled,  he 
could  see  in  the  dark. 

Causaubon,  quoting  Photius,  tells  us  that  such  eyes  had 
Asclepiadorus,  the  philosopher.  And  Scaliger  says  that  his 
father  could  at  times  see  in  the  dark,  and  that  he  himself  had 
this  faculty  from  boyhood,  till  his  twenty-third  year.  Tibe- 
rius's  hair  was  gathered  at  the  back  of  his  head,  as  was  tho 
case  also  with  Caligula,  covering  his  neck,  a  feature  which  ap- 
peared, says  Suetonius,  to  belong  to  his  family.  He  was  bald 
in  front,  and  in  his  latter  years  the  sight  of  the  hated  de- 
formity, with  his  reduced  figure  and  the  blotches  on  his  face, 
afflicted  him  greatly. 

(104) 


TIBERIUS.  105 

The  coins  and  medals  of  Tiberius  represent  him  with  a  very 
large  neck — that  is,  a  neck  at  once  long  and  thick.  He  car- 
ried his  neck  stiff,  says  Suetonius,  with  his  face  contracted. 
It  was  characteristic  of  the  calm  wickedness  of  his  character 
that  he  spoke  but  little,  and  that  little  slowly.  It  is  added 
that  he  made  use  of  certain  effeminate  gestures  with  his  fin- 
gers. 

The  notices  of  the  private  habits  of  Tiberius  are  not  inter- 
esting, but  simply  disgusting. 


5* 


GEEMANICUS 


Suetonius  unites  with  Tacitus  and  Dion  in  praising  the  great 
beauty  of  the  amiable  Germanicus,  the  father  of  Caligula ; 
but  Suetonius,  whose  delight  it  was  to  be  critical  even  in  the 
praise  of  comeliness,  tells  us  that  the  slenderness  of  the  legs  of 
Germanicus  detracted  from  the  perfection  of  his  person.*  He 
appears  to  have  propagated  slender  legs  amongst  his  descen- 
dants, both  Caligula  and  Nero  having  been  distinguished  for 
this  peculiarity.!  So  was  Domitiah  afterwards ;  though  it 
must  be  observed  that  the  line  of  the  Caesars  by  family  extrac- 
tion was  broken  by  the  accession  of  Galba  to  the  empire. 

The  descent  of  personal  features  through  successive  gener- 
ations is  readily  noticed  in  royal  families.  The  thick  upper  lip 
of  the  royal  house  of  Austria,  thence  called  "  the  Austrian 
lip,"  which  has  appeared  in  all  the  sovereigns,  is  an  inherit- 
ance not  from  the  Emperor  Maximilian,  as  is  sometimes  said, 
but  from  Mary  of  Burgundy,  who  was  married  to  him  in  the 
year  1 478.  The  features  of  Maximilian  were  extremely  regu- 
lar ;  but  in  Mary  the  development  of  the  upper  lip  was  enor- 
mous.    "When,  in  the  course  of  time,  it  became  known  that  a 

#  Suetonius,  "Caligula,"  c.  3. 

t  Ibid.  c.  />o.    "  Nero,"  c.  50. 

(106) 


GERMANICUS.  107 

thick  upper  lip  was  an  attribute  of  royalty,  it  came  to  be  re- 
garded as  a  beauty  in  Austria,  as  the  aquiline  nose,  the  prom- 
inent characteristic  of  the  descendants  of  Cyrus,  was  in  ancient 
Persia.  An  Austrian  writer  is  quoted  by  Amelot  de  la  Hous- 
saye,  speaking  to  this  effect :  "  The  princes  of  the  house  of 
Austria  have  received  great  graces  from  God  and  nature  ; 
from  nature,  in  having  all  long  chins  and  thick  lips,  which  show 
their  piety,  constancy,  and  integrity  ;  from  God,  that  in  giving 
with  their  hands  a  glass  of  water  to  a  person  afflicted  with 
goitre  they  cure  him,  and  when  they  kiss  a  stuttering  person, 
they  loosen  his  tongue."* 

Germanicus,  we  are  told  by  Suetonius,  cured  himself  of  the 
slenderness  of  legs,  which  has  been  as  much  condemned  in 
modern  as  it  was  in  ancient  times,  by  constantly  practising 
riding  on  horseback  after  his  meals.  Mandeville,  the  author 
of  the  Fable  of  the  Bees,  in  his  "  Treatise  on  the  Hypochon- 
driack  Diseases,"  has  noticed  the  slender  legs  of  Germanicus, 
and  corrects  a  medical  writer,  .Fuller,  who  in  his  "  Medicina 
Gymnastica"  had  taken  it  upon  him  to  interpret  the  crurum 
gracilitas  of  Germanicus  as  meaning  that  he  laboured  under 
atrophy.  "  I  would  have  everybody,"  says  Mandeville,  "  make 
the  most  of  his  argument ;  but  I  hate  a  man  should  wilfully 
pervert  the  sense  of  a  good  author  merely  to  serve  his  turn. 
The  matter  of  fact  is  this ;  Suetonius  describing  the  person 
of  Germanicus  from  head  to  foot,  tells  us  that  in  his  youth  he 
had  spindle  legs,  but  that  by  frequent  riding  this  defect  had 
been  much  remedied.  From  this,  what  mortal  could  suppose 
that  he  had  an  atrophy  ?"f 

The  criticism  of  Mandeville  as  against  Fuller  is  perfectly 
sound,  but  it  is  remarkable  that  this  ingenious  writer  does  not 

*  Amelot  de  la  Houssaye,  "Memoires  Hist.  Polit.  Crit.  et  Litteraires," 
torn,  i,  p.  146.     Amst.  1731. 

t  Mandeville,  "Treatise  on  the  Hypocliondriack  and  Hysteric  Diseases," 
p.  310      London,  1721. 


108  CLASSIC  AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

notice  the  singularity  in  the  cure ;  the  riding  being  "  after 
meals"  (post  cibum,)  which,  if  we  are  to  believe  what  doctors 
say,  is  like  all  exercise  whatever  after  meals — whether  of  body 
or  of  mind — most  unhealthy. 

Germanicus  died  under  suspicion  of  being  poisoned  by  Tibe- 
rius. Suetonius  records  some  curious  appearances  about  the 
dead  body.  There  were  spots  all  over  it,  and  froth  at  his 
mouth ;  and  when  his  remains  were  burned,  the  heart  was 
found  still  entire.  It  was  the  popular  belief  that  the  heart  of 
a  person  who  had  died  of  poison  could  not  be  consumed  by 
fire. 

If  the  personal  appearance  of  Germanicus  improved  with 
his  years,  so  it  appears  did  that  of  his  sister  Livia  (the  wife  of 
Drusus,)  of  whom  Tacitus  tells  us  that,  in  early  life,  she  was 
of  indifferent  comeliness,  but  afterwards  excelled  in  beauty.* 

I  have  not  discovered  where  Montaigne  learned  that  Ger- 
manicus was  unable  to  endure  either  the  sight  or  the  crowing 
of  a  cock.t 

*  Tacitus,  "  Annales,"  lib.  iv,  c.  3. 
t  Montaigne,  "  Essais,"  lib,  i,  c.  19. 


CALIGULA. 


Caligula,  the  son  of  the  beautiful  Germanicus,  was  by  fat 
the  ugliest  of  the  Caesars.  He  was  tall  and  large  in  person, 
with  slender  neck  and  legs,  of  a  pale  complexion,  with  hollow 
eyes,  and  a  broad  and  stern  forehead ;  and  though  otherwise 
a  rough,  hairy  man,  the  locks  on  his  head  were  scanty,  and 
the  crown  was  entirely  bare.* 

This  is  the  substance  of  the  picture  by  Suetonius.  It  is,  in 
every  respect,  borne  out  by  the  description  of  Caligula  given 
by  Seneca,  who  must  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  em- 
peror's person.  He  describes  his  paleness  as  of  a  horrible 
kind,  and  indicative  of  madness— his.  crooked  eyes  lurking  un- 
der a  wrinkled  forehead  {sub  f route  anili  ;)  and  the  expression 
is  strange  when  we  recollect  that  at  his  death  the  emperor 
was  only  twenty-nine.  Though  his  head  was  destitute^ his 
neck  was  thick  set  with  hair ;  his  legs  were  slender,  and  his 
feet  very  large. f 

This  ill-made  man  had  a  particular  delight  in  jeering  at  the 
deformities  of  others,  and  in  the  most  minute  criticisms  on 
their  personal  appearance.^:  He  would  cause  any  good-looking 

*  Suetonius,  "  Caligula,"  c.  50. 

f  Seneca,  "  De  Constantia,"  c.  xvm. 

J  Seneca,  ut  supra. 

(109) 


110  CLASSIC    AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

person  whom  he  met  with  to  be  disfigured,  by  ordering  his 
hair  to  be  cut  in  a  ludicrous  fashion.  His  own  horrid  and 
dismal  countenance  he  studied  to  make  more  frightful  than  it 
naturally  was,  by  practising  the  making  of  terrible  faces  before 
a  mirror. 

The  health  of  Caligula  from  his  boyhood  was  bad.  He  was 
frequently  seized  with  fits.  -He  could  not  sleep  above  three 
hours  at  a  time,  and  this  short  slumber  was  agitated  by  horrid 
spectres.  He  would  then  awake,  and  sit  up  in  bed,  or  walk 
about  the  corridors  calling  for  the  daylight* 

Caligula  sometimes  appeared  in  the  costume  of  a  man,  and 
sometimes  of  a  woman,  and  frequently  as  one  of  the  gods  or 
goddesses.  Sometimes  he  was  Alexander  the  Great  with  his 
breastplate,  sometimes  Jupiter  with  his  golden  beard  and 
thunderbolt,  and  sometimes  Mercury  with  his  caduceus ;  and 
sometimes  the  ugliest  man  of  the  age  appeared  in  the  charac- 
ter of  the  goddess  of  beauty. f 

Caligula  was  addicted  to  literary  pursuits.  His  criticisms 
on  Homer,  Virgil,  Livy,  and  Seneca,  are  preserved  by  Sueto- 
nius. He  paid  much  attention  to  the  study  of  eloquence. 
Besides  this,  he  was  a  singer  and  a  dancer,  a  fencer  and  a 
chariot-driver.^: 

*  Suetonius,  ut  supra. 

t  Suetonius,  "  Caligula,"  c.  52. 

J:  Ibid  c  53, 54. 


LOLLIA  PAULINA. 


The  beauty  of  Lollia  Paulina,  the  second  wife  of  Caligula, 
whom  he  divorced  for  the  sake  of  his  beloved  Csesonia,  is  less 
noticed  in  history  than  her  extravagant  luxury.  The  proba- 
bility is,  that  she  was  not  deficient  in  the  graces  of  the  per- 
son, though  the  reason  given  by  the  historian  as  that  which 
led  Caligula  to  take  her  from  her  husband,  "  because  he  had 
heard  that  her  grandmother  had  been  very  beautiful,"*  is  far 
from  being  conclusive  on  this  point.  Caligula  should  have 
recollected  that  neither  beauty  nor  virtue  always  runs  in  the 
blood,  and  that  he  himself,  a  monster  of  wickedness,  and  the 
ugliest  young  man  of  his  age,  was  the  son  of  the  comely  and 
virtuous  Germanicus. 

Pliny,  who  had  seen  Lollia,  gives  a  description  of  her  gor- 
geous attire.  Not  merely  on  grand  public  occasions,  but  on 
ordinary  days,  she  carried  on  her  person  the  spoils,  of  whole 
provinces,  being  covered  with  emeralds  and  pearls  in  alternate 
rows  in  her  hair,  and  hanging  in  her  ears  and  about  her  neck, 
her  wrists,  and  her  fingers,  to  the  value  of  forty  sesterces,  f 

It  is  to  Lollia  Paulina  that  Eabelais  refers  inaccurately  un- 
der the  name  of  Pompeie  Pauline,  "  who  attracted  the  admi- 

*  Suetonius,  "  Caligula,"  c.  25. 
f  Plinius,  "Hist.  Nat."  lib  tv,  c.  58 

(HI) 


112  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

ration  of  the  whole  city  of  Rome,  and  who  was  called  the  ditch 
and  magazine  of  the  robber  conquerors  of  the  world.* 

Pliny's  description  of  Lollia  carrying  on  her  person  the 
spoils  of  whole  provinces,  has  a  parallel  in  Tertullian's  account 
of  the  ornaments  of  some  Christian  women  of  his  time.  "  From 
the  smallest  parts  of  the  body  a  large  patrimony  is  exposed. 
Ten  sesterces  are  held  by  one  thread — one  tender  neck  carries 
about  it  forests  and  islands.  The  delicate  lobes  of  the  ears 
cost  a  whole  book  of  expenses,  and  the  left  hand  carries,  in 
sport,  a  bag  of  money  on  each  finger.  Such  is  the  power  of 
ambition,  that  it  makes  one  little  person,  and  that  of  a  woman, 
able  to  carry  all  these  treasures."! 

Ovid,  who  distinctly  warns  the  fair  against  attempting  to 

charm  by  rich  dresses,  complains  of  an  ostentatious  young 

woman  that  her   person   is   the   least   part  of  herself;    and 

Thompson  has  taught  many  a  one  to  repeat  after   him  that 

beauty 

"  Needs  not  the  foreign  aid  of  ornament, 

But  is  when  unadorned  adorned  the  most." 

It  is  rather  remarkable  that  St.  Chrysostom,  in  various  pas- 
sages of  his  works,  in  which  he  inveighs  against  the  adorn- 
ings  and  rich  dresses  of  the  women  of  his  time,  is  not  content- 
ed with  denouncing  the  sin  and  the  extravagant  expenditure,  > 
but  insists  upon  it  that  rich  dresses  and  gold  and  pearls  detract 
from  the  personal  appearance  of  the  wearer.  Thus,  in  one 
passage  in  his  Treatise  on  Virginity,  he  states  that  if  a  woman 
is  beautiful,  she  loses  the  charm  of  nature  by  these  ornaments, 
as  their  great  abundance  does  not  permit  any  part  of  her  to 
be  seen  naked  ;  and  if  she  is  ugly,  it  makes  the  matter  worse, 
as  what  is  in  itself  uncomely  becomes  still  more  so  by  con- 
trast with  the  splendor  of  what  is  around  it.     "  Pearls,"  he 

*  Rabelais,  "  Pantagruel,"  lib.  iv,  c.  42. 

t  Tertullian,  "De  Cultu  Faeminarum,"  lib.  n,  c  8. 


LOLLIA  PAULINA.  113 

says,  "  make  the  blackness  of  the  body  blacker,  and  varied 
colors  make  the  ill-favored  face  still  more  ill-favored."* 

It  is,  however,  to  be  suspected  that  there  are  more  people 
who  admire  richly-dressed  women  than  are  willing  to  own  it. 
In  fact,  the  love  of  dress  would  not  be  so  prevailing  a  passion 
in  women  as  it  is,  if  it  was  not  their  understanding  that  it  had 
some  avowed  and  a  great  many  concealed  admirers  in  the 
other  sex.  Even  writers  of  fiction  have  admitted  its  attrac- 
tion. In  the  Greek  romance  of  u  Daphnis  and  Chloe,"  by 
Longus,  the  writer  tells  us  how  much  external  ornaments 
help  to  set  off  beauty,  and  assures  us  that  Chloe,  when  she 
was  dressed  for  her  marriage  with  her  hair  twisted  up  into  a  net, 
was  so  much  improved  that  Daphnis,  who  had  courted  her 
in  her  shepherdess's  weeds,  was  hardly  able  to  recognise  her. 

Brantome  also,  it  is  clear  from  most  of  his  criticisms, 
thought  that  rich  dresses,  as  well  as  high  titles,  added  un- 
speakably to  natural  beauty ;  beauty  being  a  gift  which  he 
appears  to  have  believed  to  be  entirely  monopolised  by  queens, 
duchesses,  and  countesses,  and  which  he  scarcely  recognises 
in  persons  of  low  degree. 

In  this  way  he  has  celebrated  the  beauty  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth of  England,  of  which  no  other  person,  except  those  in- 
tending to  benefit  themselves  by  flattering  her,  has  spoken 
favorably.  But  Elizabeth  dressed  gorgeously,  and  it  is  but 
fair  to  add  that  she  had  fine  hands,  of  which  Brantome  was 
a  fanatical  admirer.  He  can,  however,  scarcely  describe 
beauty  of  face  or  form  without  mixing  up  his  portrait  with 
passionate  details  about  fine  robes.  It  is  not  easy  to  discover 
whether  he  more  admired  the  beautiful  legs  of  which  Catha- 
rine de  Medici  was  so  vain,  or  the  charming  stockings  in 
which  she  invested  them.      In  his   accounts  of  some  other 

*  St.  Chrysostom,  Opera,  lib.  i,  p.  320.  Paris,  1718.  And  again,  lib. 
vin,  p.  412. 


114  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

princesses,  the  description  of  their  clothes  occupies  more  space 
than  the  picture  of  their  natural  beauty. 

Of  the  person  of  Lollia  Paulina  we  have  only  one  particu- 
lar. According  to  Dion,  there  was  something  peculiar  about 
her  teeth ;  perhaps  she  had  the  gift  of  a  complete  and  even 
Ret.  When  Agrippina  caused  her  to  be  murdered,  she  made 
the  assassin -bring  the  head  of  Lollia  to  her,  and  she  opened 
the  mouth  in  order  to  ascertain  from  the  teeth  if  it  was  really 
the  head  of  her  victim. 


0J3S0NIA 


The  third  and  favorite  wife  of  Caligula  wus  the  remarkable 
woman  Caesonia.  Pliny  notices  that  Caesonia  was  an  eight 
months'  child.  The  circumstance  is  not  remarkable,  were  it 
not  for  the  venerable  superstition,  which  has  stood  its 
ground  firmly  from  the  days  of  Hippocrates  to  the  present 
hour,  in  the  face  of  abundant  contradiction  from  facts,  that 
though  a  seven  months'  child  often  lives,  an  eight  months' 
child  always  dies  within  eight  days  from  the  time  of  its 
birth. 

Though,  as  Suetonius  tells  us,  neither  young  nor  beautiful, 
and  having  had  three  children  to  her  former  husband,  and 
with  no  recommendation  that  the  world  could  see  but  her 
licentious  character,  Caesonia  was  constantly  and  ardently 
loved  by  this  monster,  who  scarcely  loved  any  thing  else.  For 
her  sake  he  divorced  Lollia  Paulina.  Caligula  used  to  dress 
Caesonia  in  a  military  cloak  and  helmet,  and  show  her  to  the 
army  as  she  rode  by  his  side.  It  is  said  that  he  also — though 
he  alone  was  sensible  of  her  beauty — was  led  by  vanity  to 
make  the  same  display  of  the  charms  of  his  wife  to  his  private 
friends  as  in  former  days  cost  the  indiscreet  King  of  Lydia  the 
loss  of  his  crown  and  his  life. 

(115) 


1 1 6  CLASSIC  AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

The  daughter  whom  Csesonia  bore  to  Caligula,  and  whom 
he  named  Julia  Drusilla,  appears  also  to  have  been  loved  by 
her  father.  After  carrying  her  through  all  the  temples  of  the 
divinities,  he  placed  her  in  the  bosom  of  Minerva,  recommend- 
ing her  to  the  care  and  instruction  of  the  goddess  of  wisdom. 
As  soon  as  little  Julia  began  to  scratch  and  tear  the  faces  of 
the  children  with  whom  she  sported,  the  delighted  emperor 
expressed  his  satisfaction  with  this  unequivocal  evidence  of  her 
being  papa's  own  daughter. 

The  immense  affection  which  Caligula  bore  to  Csesonia,  as 
well  as  the  insanity  which  appears  in  his  conduct,  were  in  his 
time  attributed  to  a  philtre  given  to  him  by  the  queen  to  make 
him  love  her,*  as  the  madness  and  suicide  of  the  poet  Lucre- 
tius have  been  charged  on  a  potion  administered  to  him  by  his 
wife  for  the  same  laudable  purpose. 

According  to  Juvenal,  the  charm  administered  to  Caligula 
was  the  hippomanes,  as  it  was  called,  taken  from  the  forehead 
of  a  foal  at  its  birth,f  and  which  Virgil  represents  Dido  as 
having  recourse  to  in  order  to  secure  the  affections  of  ^Eneas. 
Concerning  the  notions  of  the  ancients  about  this  drug,  or  the 
various  articles  to  which  the  name  hippomanes  was  applied, 
the  inquisitive  reader  will  get  every  satisfaction  in  the  special 
dissertation  by  Bayle  on  the  subject.;}:  The  most  remarkable 
thing  in  that  curious  essay  is  a  quotation  made  from  a  romance 
of  Bayle's  own  day,  the  "  Avantures  de  Henriette  Sylvie  de 
Moliere,"  in  which  certain  ladies  of  Paris  are  represented  as 
having  recourse  to  the  use  of  hippomanes,  in  order  to  secure  a 
return  of  affection  from  some  gentlemen  with  whom  they  are 
in  love. 

*  Suetonius,  "  Caligula,"  c.  50. 

|  Juvenal,  "  Sat."  lib.  vi,  614.  Bayle  seems  to  give  credit  to  this 
story.     Diet.  "  Hist,  et  Critique,"  Art.  Caligula." 

X  Bayle,  "  Dissertation  sur  THippomanes,"  Diet.  lib.  iv,  593.  Basle, 
1738. 


C^SONIA.  117 

Caligula  was  playful  in  his  atrocities ;  and  when  he  kissed 
the  necks  of  his  favorites,  he  would  say,  "  What  a  beautiful 
neck !  but  as  soon  as  I  give  the  order,  it  will  be  cut  asunder," 
and  he  said  he  would  inquire  by  the  torture  of  the  rack  why 
he  loved  Csesonia  so  passionately.* 

*  Suetonius,  "  Caligula,"  c.  33. 


BOADICEA 


I  wish  to  avoid  all  affectation  of  being  curious  in  a  matter 
of  so  little  consequence  as  the  correct  and  best  spelling  of  this 
woman's  name,  which  may  be  met  with  in  a  great  variety  of 
forms.  Boadicea,  Bouduca,  Bonduca,  Boundouica,  and  so 
on  ;  all  of  them  perhaps  far  off  from  her  ancient  British  desig- 
nation, and  I  have  therefore  adopted  a  very  common  spelling. 
"We  have  a  striking  and  faithful  portrait — for  such  it  may 
without  much  difficulty  be  admitted  to  be — of  the  warlike 
Queen  of  the  Iceni  in  the  reign  of  Nero — a  queen  who,  at  the 
head  of  her  countrymen,  captured  from  the  Romans  two  of 
their  towns  lying  on  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  London.  For  this  portrait  we  are  indebted 
to  the  picturesque  Dion  Cassius,  living  sufficiently  near  her 
time  to  have  collected  his  specific  description  of  her  person 
and  address  from  the  Romans,  whose  possession  of  Britain 
had  been  threatened  and  endangered  by  her  valor  and  pat- 
riotism. 

When  Boadicea  appeared  at  the  head  of  her  army,  she  is 
described  as  of  gigantic  stature,  of  a  beautiful  figure,  a  terri- 
ble aspect,  and  a  sharp  voice ;  with  yellow  hair,  which  fell 
in  rich  profusion  down  to  her  thighs.     She  wore  round  her 

neck  a  large  golden  collar  or  chain,  and  about  her  body  a  rube 

(118) 


BOADICEA.  119 

of  variegated  colors,  twisted  into  folds,  and  over  this  a  thick 
heavy  mantle  or  cloak.  As  she  addressed  her  countrymen, 
she  blandished  in  her  hand  a  spear,  in  order  to  excite  them  to 
valor.* 

The  Roman  historians,  who  have  described  the  terrible  ven- 
geance which  the  heroic  widow  of  Prasutagus  took  on  the  in- 
habitants of  the  Eoman  cities  which  fell  into  her  hands,  have 
not  disguised  her  terrible  wrongs,  and  the  wrongs  of  her  hus- 
band and  her  race.  Prasutagus  had  made  the  emperor  the 
heir  of  his  great  wealth — great  it  is  called  by  Tacitus,  it  is 
to  be  presumed  with  reference  to  what  might  be  expected  of 
a  British  prince  in  that  age — in  the  hope  of  averting  the  Eo- 
man hostility,  and  securing  the  quiet  possession  of  his  own 
dominions.  His  kingdom  was  ravaged,  his  palace  pillaged, 
as  if  he  had  been  a  conquered  foe ;  his  relatives  were  made 
slaves,  his  wife,  the  heroic  Boadicea,  was  scourged,  and  her 
daughters  were  ravished. f 

The  fate  of  Prasutagus  is  not  noticed  by  historians.  After 
the  events  which  I  have  mentioned,  Boadicea  appears  as  the 
Queen  of  the  Iceni  and  the  leader  of  the  army,  and  her  abili- 
ties in  both  capacities  are  spoken  of  with  respect. 

Both  Tacitus  and  Dion  give — the  former  briefly  and  the  lat- 
ter at  some  length — a  speech  which  they  represent  Boadicea 
to  have  delivered  to  her  countrymen.  The  eloquent  address 
which  Dion  puts  into  her  mouth  is  no  doubt,  in  the  main, 
the  composition  of  his  own  closet,  yet  he  may  have  had  infor- 
mation or  recent  tradition  of  the  substance  of  what  she  said. 
It  abounds  in  eloquent  passages,  and  warlike  as  it  is,  it  is  yet 
pervaded  by  a  wromanly  spirit.  Dion  makes  her  draw  a  con- 
trast between  the  simple  lives  of  her  countrymen  and  the  vices 
of  Rome,  and  it  is  drawn  with  much  beauty.     The  sighing 

*  Dion,  "Hist."  lib.  lxit,  p.  701. 

f  Tacitus,  "  Annales,"  lib.  xiv,  c.  3.1. 


120  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

after  a  simple  and  savage  life  is  characteristic  of  ages  of  over- 
refinement  and  vicious  cultivation. 

In  early  and  rude  ages  when  poets,  writing  in  refined  times, 
would  have  us  to  believe  that  men  employed  themselves  in 
lying  on  the  banks  of  rivers  and  under  the  shades  of  trees, 
playing  on  pipes,  and  sighing  out  their  souls  in  love, — while 
the  women,  on  their  part,  were  similarly  disengaged  and  simi- 
larly subjected  to  all  the  softer  and  sweeter  influences, — the 
real  occupation  of  the  men,  in  which  they  were  often  heartily 
joined  by  the  women,  if  any  reliance  is  to  be  placed  in  the 
songs  of  contemporary  bards,  was  fighting  battles,  cutting 
throats,  giving  and  taking  of  hard  blows  and  knocks,  and 
kicks  and  cuffs,  besides  abusing  each  other  vehemently  with 
their  tongues,  and  telling  and  swearing  to  all  manner  of  horri- 
ble lies,  and  taking  every  possible  advantage  of  each  other. 
Such  is  the  true  picture  of  early  and  primitive  times,  and  such 
are  the  subjects  of  the  first  records  of  all  nations,  of  the  songs 
of  all  really  ancient  poets.  It  is  amidst  the  corruption  and 
decline  of  over-civilized  states,  in  the  most  sophisticated  and 
artificial  and  unpoetical  condition  of  society,  in  the  atmosphere 
of  courts  and  palaces,  that  men  begin  to  dream  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  happy  pastoral  life  beyond  the  boundaries  of  wicked 
cities  ;  and  that  poets  over  their  claret  set  about  describing  as 
a  reality  what  never  had  and  never  can  have  an  existence,  ex- 
cept in  poets'  brains. 

These  visions  will  steal  gently  over  the  soul  of  even  the 
blood-stained  murderer.  In  the  midst  of  his  terrible  proscrip- 
tions, Sylla  sighed  to  leave  Rohie,  and  longed  for  the  simple 
enjoyment  of  his  rural  cot,  his  country  diversions,  and  a  loved 
and  loving  mistress ;  but  he  had  so  much  massacreing  work 
on  his  hands,  that  he  could  never  get  to  this  fancied  Elysium, 
where  his  active  mind  would  have  been  completely  miserable 
in  three  days'  time. 

It  was  either  in  the  court  of  Ptolemy  Philadelphus,  or  in 


BOADICEA.  121 

the  marble  palaces  of  Syracuse,  while  wallowing  in  wealth 
and  luxury,  and  robed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  that  Theocri- 
tus, who  is  allowed  to  be  the  simplest  and  the  most  natural 
of  all  rural  poets,  the  father  and  unapproached  model  of  all 
succeeding  writers  of  pastorals,  wrote  those  idyls  which  are 
regarded  as  the  truest,  most  faithful,  and  most  exact  pictures 
of  that  country  life  which  the  aristocratic  and  courtly  poet 
knew  nothing  about. 

Virgil  was  once,  it  is  true,  a  bit  of  a  farmer,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  a  very  bad  and  unimproving  one,  but  it  was  after  he 
had  forgotten  what  the  country  was  like,  and  had  become  the 
courtier  and  the  flatterer  of  Octavius,  and  the  man  of  wealth, 
that  he  set  about  making  the  shepherds  Melibceus  and  Tityrus 
talk  such  stuff  as  mortal  shepherds  never  talked  on  this  earth. 
The  inventors  of  the  pastoral  romance,  Heliodorus,  Longus, 
and  Xenophon  of  Ephesus,  were  men  living  under  the  corrup- 
tion of  literature,  taste  and  morals,  which  characterised  the 
Byzantine  empire.  Tasso  and  Guarini  were  courtiers  ;  they 
lived  in  no  primitive  or  pastoral  ages,  and  were  entirely  unac- 
quainted with  sheep  and  cattle. 

Our  own  poet  Pope,  the  companion  of  debauched  lords  in 
powdered  wigs,  embroidered  coats  and  breeches  with  golden 
buckles,  and  the  sickly  fondling  of  ladies  made  up  of  elongated 
stays,  hooped  petticoats,  steel  and  "  ribs  of  whale,"  distorted 
spines  and  unnatural  waists — odors  and  perfumes,  neither  of 
the  violet  nor  the  hawthorn,  but  of  the  civet  cat  and  the  apoth- 
ecary's phials,  and  faces  superficially  composed  of  a  mixture 
of  glaring  carmine,  contrasted  with  spotless  ceruse  and  pro- 
voking black  plaster' — this  poet  of  the  city,  the  poet  of  art, 
and  the  most  artful  of  poets,  was  truly  a  pretty  gentleman  to 
sit  down  after  a  night  of  as  much  dissipation  with  his  profli- 
gate and  prosaic  companions  as  his  feeble  body  could  endure, 
to  tell  us  honestly  and  faithfully,  and  to  the  best  of  his  know- 
ledge what  it  was  exactly  that  the  love-sick  Strephon  sung  in 


122  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    POKTKAITS. 

praise  of  Delia  ;  and  what,  on  the  other  hand,  Baphnis,  equal- 
ly deep  in  tenderness,  was  able  to  warble  in  commendation  of 
the  sprightly  Sylvia ;  and  how  Damon,  the  pastoral  umpire, 
had  his  judgment  so  completely  confounded  by  having  listened 
to  both  sides,  that  in  consideration  of  what  both  had  done  for 
love  and  poesy,  he  was  obliged  to  award  the  poetical  pre- 
mium— which  fortunately  was  a  double  one — to  both  of 
them  ! 

To  return  to  Dion,  the  governor  of  a  Roman  province  in 
the  age  of  Rome's  most  unmanly  ■■  and  most  vicious  emperors 
— a  man  who  had  been  conversant  with  such  extremely  unpas- 
toral  persons  as  Caracalla  and  Ileliogabalus — would  feel  much 
relief  to  his  soul  in  drawing  the  fanciful  picture  of  the  virtuous 
barbarians  of  Britain — a  remote  region,  cut  off  from  the  civil- 
ized world — "  penitus  toto  divisos  orbe  Britannos,"  with  which 
the  utmost  acquaintance  that  Dion- is  likely  to  have  possessed 
would  be  derived  through  his  palate,  which  would  no  doubt 
often  be  gratified  by  the  delicate  flavor  of  those  sincerely  es- 
teemed oysters,  for  the  sake  of  which  the  Roman  nobility 
sent  ships  and  sailors  to  England's  coasts,  and  for  which  many 
of  Rome's  epicures  thought  the  conquest  and  dominion  of  the 
island  alone  valuable. 

Historians  have  celebrated  Boadicea's  knowledge  of  the  art 
of  war  ;  and  in  this  speech  the  mode  of  warfare  best  adapted 
for  her  soldiers,  and  the  means  of  safety  in  the  event  of  being 
compelled  to  a  temporary  retreat,  are  ably  laid  down.  The 
superiority  of  the  Britons  in  a  skirmishing  warfare,  in  which 
the  enemy  might  be  cut  off  in  detail,  is  insisted  on.  "  In  all 
these  things,"  she  says,  "  they  are  much  inferior  to  us,  and 
particularly  because  they  cannot  bear  hunger,  thirst,  cold  and 
heat,  as  we  can.  They  stand  so  much  in  need  of  shade,  cov- 
erings, kneaded  corn,  wine  and  oil,  that  if  any  of  these  things 
fail  them  they  die.  To  us,  any  herb  or  root  is  bread,  any 
juice  is  oil,  all  water  is  wine,  any  bush  is  a  house.     To  us,  all 


BOADICEA.  1 23 

places  are  familiar  and,  as  it  were,  friendly  to  us  in  carry- 
ing on  the  war ;  to  them  they  are  unknown  and  hostile ;  we 
can  swim  the  rivers  naked,  while  they  can  only  with  difficulty 
cross  them  in  their  boats." 

She  is  made  by  the  historian  to  understand  the  true  inter- 
ests of  the  inhabitants  of  Britain,  owing  to  its  sea-girt  situa- 
tion, to  be  one  family  united  against  all  foreign  invasion — a 
discovery  which  the  inhabitants  did  not  till  after  many  long 
centuries  of  bitter  experience  of  the  fruits  of  internal  warfare 
discover  for  themselves.  "  Citizens,  friends,  and  relatives, 
(oVyy«v£ is,)"  she  says,  "  for  I  regard  you  all  who  inhabit  this 
island  in  common  as  my  relatives."  This  is  a  powerful  and 
pathetic" stroke  of  true  eloquence.  ■ 

In  the  midst  of  her  address,  Boadicea  took  an  omen  on  the 
event  of  the  war  after  the  fashion  of  her  country.  She  drew 
from  her  bosom  a  hare,  and  let  it  loose ;  and  it  would  appear 
that  the  course  which  it  took  in  running  was  hailed  by  the 
Britons  as  a  presage  of  victory.  Boadicea  is  then  represented 
as  lifting  her  hands  to  heaven,  and  thanking  the  goddess 
whom  she  worshipped  for  the  favorable  omen,  and  imploring 
her,  as  a  woman,  to  grant  to  her — a  woman  called  to  rule 
over  men — victory,  safety,  and  liberty.  And  here  the  historian 
makes  the  warlike  queen  pour  out  a  strain  of  invective  on  the 
effeminate  life  of  Nero,  whose  dominion  she  hopes  will  be  con- 
fined to  the  people  of  Rome,  who  are  worthy  to  serve  this 
woman  (as  she  terms  him,)  since  they  have  borne  with  his 
tyranny  so  long.  "  But  thou,  0  divine  lady  !"  she  concludes, 
"  I  earnestly  pray  thee,  be  ever  alone  present  with  us." 

The  Roman  writers  have,  in  general,  not  shown  much  jus- 
tice— not  to  say  generosity — in  estimating  the  character  of 
those  of  their  enemies  whose  prowess  and  obstinate  patriotism 
offered  a  dangerous  resistance  to  the  conquering  career  of  the 
imperial  arms.  The  terms  "  cruel  "  and  "  perfidious  "  have 
been  liberally  heaped  on  Hannibal,  their  most  formidable  foe; 


124  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

and  according  to  the  measure  of  their  opposition  to  the  Roman 
power,  have  been  the  invectives  poured  out  on  other  lesser 
enemies,  whose  spirit  of  independence  rose  in  rebellion  against 
the  Roman  lust  for  universal  dominion. 

The  Roman  writers,  in  this  respect,  no  doubt  faithfully 
echoed  the  voice  of  the  contemporary  Roman  people  ;  and 
something  of  this  unfair  spirit  has  at  all  times  pervaded  the 
minds  of  warlike  nations  in  the  heat  of  great  struggles.  "When 
the  hosts  of  Hyder,  with  his  French  allies,  threatened  the 
existence  of  the  British  dominions  in  the  East,  there  was  no 
story  which  ingenuity  or  imagination  could  invent  of  the  hor- 
rible crimes  attributed  to  the  Mussulman  prince,  which  was 
not  greedily  received  and  believed  at  home  by  all  who  had  one 
spark  of  patriotism  left  in  their  bosoms. 

And  in  the  days  when  the  whole  of  Europe  appeared  about 
to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Napoleon,  the  spirit  of  that  country 
which  effectually  resisted  him,  and  finally  overthrew  him,  led 
her  sons  to  regard  the  conqueror  of  kings  as  not  merely  a  vil- 
lain of  the  blackest  dye — which  was  a  judgment  not  very 
unnatural — but  to  caricature  him  in  songs,  and  prints,  and 
plays,  as  a  fool  and  a  coward,  and  to  believe  any  incredible 
crime  which  any  patriotic  British  subject  was  good  enough  to 
invent  against  him,  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  alive  at  home 
the  noble  flame  of  national  independence. 

In  the  whole  descriptions  of  the  Roman  historians,  however, 
there  is  discernible  something  of  a  generous  admiration  of  the 
courage  of  Boadicea ;  and  they  have  not  concealed  the  recog- 
nition that  if  her  vengeance  was  terrible,  her  injuries  were 
equally  dreadful.  Her  appearance  in  the  field  evidently  threw 
the  Romans  into  great  alarm,  as  is  testified  by  the  signs  and 
wonders  by  which  it  was  said  to  be  announced  by  Heaven. 
The  blue  waters  which  roll  between  Britain  and  Gaul  dis- 
played the  color  of  blood,  preternatural  sounds  of  barbarian 
shouts  and  laughter  were  heard  where   no   barbarians   were 


BOADICEA.  125 

present,  the  image  of  the  goddess  of  victory  fell  down  on  its 
face  as  if  it  yielded  to  the  enemy,  and  the  appearance  of  a 
submerged  city  was  seen  in  the  Thames.* 

The  first  outburst  of  undisciplined  valor  is  generally  attend- 
ed with  decided  success.  Eoadicea  marched  hastily  on  the 
two  Eoman  cities,  and  captured  them  without  difficulty,  put- 
ting the  inhabitants  to  the  sword ;  the  number  of  the  slain 
being,  according  to  Dion,  eighty — according  to  Tacitus,  sev- 
enty— thousand. 

It  may  be  believed  that,  under  the  command  of  a  justly- 
infuriated  woman,  thirsting  for  vengeance,  the  usages  of  an- 
cient warfare  were  carried  out  in  all  their  stern  ferocity  ;  but 
we  may  attribute  to  Eoman  invention  the  narrative  of  the 
revolting  cruelties  which  Boadicea  is  said  to  have  exercised  on 
her  own  sex,  as,  unfortunately,  the  Eomans  have  here  the 
advantage  of  telling  both  sides  of  the  story,  as  they  generally 
have  against  all  their  enemies.  The  British  reader  will  be 
justified  in  disbelieving  Dion  when  he  tells  us  that  Boadicea 
seized  upon  Eoman  women  of  rank  and  hung  them  up  naked, 
and  having  cut  off  their  breasts,  fastened  them  to  their  mouths 
"as  if  they  might  seem  to  eat  them,"  and  afterwards  impaled 
their  bodies. 

The  sequel  of  the  history  is  shortly  told.  Paulina  was  has- 
tily called  from  the  Isle  of  Man  to  check  the  progress  of  Boa- 
dicea. Had  the  Britons  now  scattered  themselves  and  retreat- 
ed to  the  fastnesses,  which  might  have  defied  the  strength  of 
the  enemy,  the  Eomans  would  have  been  deprived  of  their 
retaliation.  But  Boadicea  was  now  at  the  head  of  a  huge 
army,  animated  with  enthusiasm  and  flushed  with  triumph, 
and  she  hazarded  a  pitched  battle.  She  drew  up  this  vast 
force,  which  Dion  tells  us  amounted  to  two  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  men — in  all  probability  the  fighting  women 
are  included  in  this  number — in  one  long  line. 

*  See  Dion,  lxti,  p.  700;  and  Tacitus,  "  Annales,"  lib.  xiv,  c   32. 


126  CLASSIC   AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Paulinus  divided  his  army  into  three  divisions.  The  wives 
of  the  British  soldiers  accompanied  them  in  battle,  and  Boa- 
dicea  appeared  in  a  chariot  with  her  two  injured  daughters — 
the  sight  of  whom  would  inflame  the  thirst  for  vengeance 
amongst  the  Britons.  It  was  not  till  after  a  protracted  resist- 
ance that  the  wild  valor  of  the  Britons  gave  way  before  the 
steady  discipline  of  the  Eoman  legions  ;  yet  it  may  be  gather- 
ed,  even  from  the  Eoman  historians  themselves,  that  the  victory 
of  Paulinus  was  far  from  being  complete.  The  great  prize, 
which  would  have  been  hailed  with  rapture  at  Rome,  escaped 
him,  as  Cleopatra  did  Gctavius. 

Whether,  as  Tacitus  says,  Boadicea  poisoned  herself,  or,  as 
Dion  tells  us,  died  naturally  of  disease,  it  is  gratifying  to 
know  that  she  did  not  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  to  be 
sent  to  Rome  to  grace  an  imperial  triumph — for  Nero  would 
have  willingly  taken  the  whole  credit  of  her  overthrow  to  him- 
self— and  that  this  heroic  woman  did  not  appear  like  Zenobia 
in  after  days,  loaded  with  burdensome  ornaments  and  jeweliy, 
walking  behind  the  chariot  of  the  effeminate  emperor  whom 
she  had  ridiculed  as  "  a  lady  "  and  a  "  singer,"  an  object  of 
pity  to  the  people  whom  she  had  described  as  scarcely  to  be 
called  men — "  creatures  reproachful,  wicked,  insatiable  and 
criminal,  bathing  themselves  in  hot  water,  eating  dishes  of 
dainty  cookery,  drinking  wine,  besmeared  with  unguents, 
lying  on  soft  couches,"  and  such  other  effeminacies  which,  the 
ancient  queen  would  name  openly,  and  the  ancient  historian 
records  faithfully,  but  which  must  not  be  alluded  to  here. 


NEEO. 


The  Emperor  Nero  was  about  middle  size  ;  his  body  was 
spotted  and  dark  ;  his  hair  yellowish  ;  his  face  was  beautiful 
rather  than  handsome.  It  was,  to  use  the  distinction  of  Sue- 
tonius, pulcher  rather  than  venuStus.  I  can  make  nothing 
more  of  this  than  one  of  the  commentators  on  Suetonius 
(Schildius)  has  done.  He  conceives  that  pulcher  refers  to  the 
complexion,  and  venustus  to  the  form  of  the  features.  His 
eyes  were  grey  and  heavy ;  his  neck  thick;  his  belly  promi- 
nent, and  his  legs  slender.*  This  slenderness  of  legs  was  in- 
herited from  Germanicus.  Nero,  it  will  be  observed,  closed 
the  direct  line  from  Augustus  ;  in  the  belief  of  the  Romans, 
he  was  the  last  lineal  descendant  of  the  Trojan  JHneas.  His 
voice,  according  to  both  Dion  and  Suetonius,  was  husky  and 
extremely  feeble. 

In  his  dress,  and  in  the  care  of  his  hair,  Nero  adopted  vari- 
ous effeminate  fashions  which  the  Eomans  considered  inde- 
cent. He  loved  great  splendor,  and  like  our  good  Queen 
Elizabeth,  never  wore  the  same  dress  twice.  The  Eomans 
made  a  feast  on  the  occasion  of  a  young  man  first  undergoing 
the  operation  of  shaving.     Nero  celebrated  this  event  in  his 

*  Suetonius,  "Nero,"  c.  51. 

(127)        i 


128  CLASSIC  AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

own  life  with  peculiar  splendor.  At  the  entertainment 
which  he  gave  on  the  occasion,  it  is  noticed  by  Dion  as  some- 
thing very  remarkable  that  a  lady  of  noble  rank  and  great 
wealth,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  her  age,  danced  amongst  the 
company.*  Nero  preserved  the  hairs  of  his  beard,  and  pre- 
sented them  in  a  gold  casket  to  the  Jupiter  of  the  Capitol. 
This  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  Petronius,  in  his  singular 
work  which  presents  us  with  so  vivid  a  picture  of  the  manners 
of  the  times,  has  described  Nero  under  the  name  of  Trimal- 
chio.  In  noticing  the  articles  in  Trimalchio's  house,  Petronius 
mentions  the  household  gods  made  of  silver,  a  marble  figure 
of  Venus,  and  a  golden  casket  in  which  it  was  said  that  Tri- 
malchio's beard  was  preserved. f  It  has  been  asserted  that 
there  was  a  medal  of  Nero — a  satirical  one — which  bore  on 
one  side  the  words,  "  C.  Nero  August.  Imp."  and  on  the  re- 
verse, "  Trimalchio." 

This  famous  criminal,  whose  murder  of  his  mother  has 
given  to  his  name  a  proverbial  pre-eminence  in  wickedness 
over  all  the  other  bad  emperors,  was  a  young  man  of  varied 
accomplishments.  .He  was  a  poet,  a  sculptor,  and  a  painter ; 
in  music  he  was  both  a  vocal  and  an  instrumental  performer ; 
and  besides  all  this  he  was  a  dancer,  an  amateur  actor,  and  a 
chariot  driver.  He  would  sit  far  into  the  night  practising 
singing  with  Terpnus  the  harp  player,  and  he  made  use  of  all 
the  means  then  known  for  strengthening  and  improving  his 
voice,  which  was  so  very  weak  and  indistinct,  says  Dion,  that 
to  listen  to  him  provoked  both  laughter  and  tears. 

Suetonius  describes  some  of  the  arts  which  Nero  adopted 
under  the  direction  of  a  Phonascus,  or  voice  doctor.  Our 
English  poet,  Nathaniel  Lee,  in  his  tragedy  of  "Theodosius," 
has   embodied   the   information   furnished   by  the   historian. 

*  Dion  "  Hist."  lib.  lxi,  p.  698. 

\  Petronius,  "  Satyricon,"  p.  22.     Paris,  1601. 


NERO.  129 

Marcian  upbraiding  Theodosius,  says  : 

"  But  for  you, 
"What  can  your  partial  sycophants  invent 
To  make  you  room  among  the  emperors  ? 
Whoso  utmost  is  the  smallest  part  of  Nero ; 
A  pretty  player,  one  that  can  act  a  hero 
And  never  be  one.     O  ye  immortal  gods  ! 
Is  this  the  old  Caesarian  majesty  ? 
Now  in  the  name  of  our  great  Romulus, 
Why  sing  you  not,  and  fiddle  too,  as  he  did  ? 
Why  have  you  not,  like  Nero,  a  Phonascus  ? 
One  to  take  care  of  your  celestial  voice  ? 
Lie  on  your  back,  my  lord,  and  on  your  stomach 
Lay  a  thin  plate  of  lead — abstain  from  fruits." 

The  dramatist   enumerates  others  of  the  luxurious  follies 
of  Nero. 

"Build  too,  like  him,  a  palace  lined  with  gold, 
As  long  and  large  as  that  to  the  Esquiline  ; 
Enclose  a  pool  too  in  it,  like  the  sea, 
And  at  the  empire's  cost  let  navies  meet. 
Adorn  your  starry  chambers  too  with  gems, 
Contrive  the  plated  ceilings  to  turn  round 
With  pipes  to  cast  ambrosial  oils  upon  you ; 
Consume  with  his  prodigious  vanity, 
In  mere  perfumes  and  odorous  distillations, 
Of  sesterces  at  once  four  hundred  millions ; 
Let  naked  virgins  wait  you  at  your  table, 
And  wanton  cupids  dance  and  clap  their  wings." 

Nero,  when  he  appeared  as  a  singer  upon  the  stage,  was 
called  "  The  Celestial  Voice,  a  circumstance  to  which  the 
poet  alludes.  He  first  came  out  as  a  vocalist  in  the  theatre 
at  Naples,  where  he  used  to  sing  for  whole  consecutive  days. 
By  an  imperial  edict  no  one  was  permitted  to  leave  the  thea- 
tre when  the  Emperor  was  singing  or  acting ;  so  that,  it  is 
G* 


130  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

said,  women  were  delivered  of  children  within  its  walls. 
There  is  some  humor  in  the  story  told  by  Dion  that  some 
courtiers,  in  order  to  get  away,  feigned  suddenly  falling 
dead,  and  were  carried  out  by  their  servants.  At  these  per- 
formances this  historian  tells  us  that  Seneca  and  Burrhus 
used  to  applaud  with  their  hands,  and  by  lifting  their  robes  in 
order  to  lead  on  the  rest;  but  Nero  had  a  body  of  five  hun- 
dred soldiers  paid  for  the  purpose  of  applauding.  Of  all  his 
courtiers,  Thrasea  alone  refused  to  applaud,  and  Thrasea  for 
this  and  other  similar  offences  paid  the  penalty  with  his  life. 
As  a  tragedian,  Nero's  favorite  characters  were  those  of  Ca- 
nace  in  labor,  (in  which  he  used  to  be  delivered  on  the 
stage,)  Orestes,  (Edipus,  Alcmseon,  Thyestes,  and  Hercules 
m  his  rage.  As  a  woman  he  used  to  appear  dressed  as  his 
departed  and  loved  Poppsea. 

According  to  Pliny,  Nero  was  the  first  to  set  the  exam- 
ple of  cooling  water  by  immersing  it  in  a  glass  vessel 
amongst  snow. 

The  reader  of  Eoman  history  does  not,  I  think,  hate  Nero 
so  much  as  he  does  some  of  the  other  emperors,  certainly  not 
so  much  as  Tiberius.  Gibbon  tells  us  that  he  was  not  so 
much  repelled  by  him  as  by  Tiberias,  Caligula  or  Domitian.* 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  he  had  some  popular  virtues, 
though  he  would  no  doubt  raise  himself  in  the  estimation  of 
the  mob  by  his  cruelties  to  the  Christians.  He  was  not  uni- 
versally execrated  after  his  death.  He  appears  to  have  been 
capable  of  loving  and  of  being  loved.  "  Nor,"  says  Suetonius, 
"  were  there  wanting  those  who  for  a  long  time  after  adorned 
his  tomb  with  the  flowers  of  the  spring  and  the  summer." 

*  "  Dois-je  le  dire  et  dire  ici  r  Nero  ne  m"a  jamais  revolte  autant  que 
Tibere,  Caligula  ou  Domitien.  II  avait  beaucoup  de  vices  mais  il 
n'etait  pas  sans  vertus.  Je  vo-is  dans  son  histoire  peu  de  traits  d'une 
mechancete  etudiee.  II  etait  cruel,  mais  il  l'etait  plutot  par  crainte  que 
jar  gout."—  Gibbox,  Jourxal. 


NEKO.  131 

The  eccentric  Cardan,  as  I  have  elsewhere  noticed,  has 
written  a  treatise  on  "  The  Praise  of  Nero."  From  the  title  it 
might  be  supposed  that  the  work  was  satirical,  but  it  is  not 
so  ;  it  is  a  serious  eulogium,  and  has  not  the  merit  of  the  least 
ingenuity.  In  order  to  set  off  the  virtues  of  Nero  in  high 
relief,  Cardan  is  liberal  in  the  censure  of  every  other  person 
mentioned  in  his  work,  and  the  first  reprobates  whom  ne  no- 
tices are  the  historians  Tacitus  and  Suetonius,  who  have 
transmitted  to  us  the  records  of  Nero's  life.  Tacitus,  he  says, 
was  an  idolatrous  priest,  and  a  man  of  the  greatest  ambition 
and  wickedness. 

Cardan  does  not  admit  that  there  was  one  good  emperor 
in  the  whole  series  from  Julius  to  his  own  day,  except  Alex- 
ander Severus,  and  he  mentions  that  even  he  was  voracious 
and  ambitious.  The  philosopher  Seneca  we  know  was  no 
practical  moralist,  and  Cardan  calls  him  the  Avorst  of  all  men, 
(mortalium  improbissimtcs)  and  commends  Nero  for  ridding 
the  world  of  him.  He  would  rather  that  Nero  had  not  mur- 
dered Octavia,  but  contented  himself  with  banishing  her,  as 
she  was  guilty  of  sterility  ;  but  as  regards  his  mother,  he 
thinks  that  Nero  was  to  blame  for  allowing  her  to  live  too  long 
— an  endurance  which  leads  him  to  think  that  he  was  the  most 
patient  of  men.  He  contrasts  the  innocence  of  Nero  in  many 
respects  with  the  guilt  of  the  other  emperors.  Augustus, 
Claudius,  and  Caligula  played  at  dice,  and  Nero  did  not. 
"  What  is  worse,"  asks  Cardan,  "  what  can  be  worse  than 
dice?"  "  Is  there,"  he  repeats,  "or  can  there  be  imagined 
anything  worse  than  dice  ?"  As  an  evidence  of  the  amazing 
goodness  of  Nero,  Cardan  begs  to  inquire,  what  man  is  there 
so  patient  that  he  could  live  with  the  most  sweet-tempered 
woman  for  four  whole  years  without  a  quarrel,  as  Nero  did 
with  Poppsea,  the  most  peevish  of  all  women  {omnium  fcemin- 
arum  morosissima  ?) 


AGKIPPINA. 


I  have  met  with  nothing  recorded  of  the  person  of  Agrip- 
pina  beyond  the  general  praise  of  her  great  beauty,  which  is 
spoken  of  in  the  strongest  language  by  Dion.  At  the  public- 
spectacles,  this  historian  describes  her  as  wearing  a  cloak  in- 
terwoven with  gold.  The  Eoman  people,  who  appear  to 
have  tolerated  much  of  Nero's  wickedness,  wTere  evidently 
struck  with  horror  at  the  murder  of  his  mother ;  caricatures, 
rhymes,  and  satirical  pictures  were  fixed  up  in  public  places, 
reviling  the  matricide.  Nero  himself  appears  to  have  been 
distracted  by  his  accusing  conscience.  He  leaped  in  terror 
from  his  bed  in  the  night,  and  wTas  alarmed  by  the  sound  of 
trumpets  heard  over  the  spot  where  she  was  buried.  The 
murder  was  preceded  by  every  circumstance  of  treachery  and 
hypocrisy.  On  taking  leave  of  his  mother  on  the  night  when 
his  first  attempt  at  her  death  by  drowning  was  made,  Nero 
embraced  her,  says  Dion,  and  kissed  her  eyes  and  her  hands. 
The  remark  which  he  made  on  looking  at  her  dead  body,  says 
the  historian,  was  more  wicked  than  the  murder  itself :  "  I  did 
not  know  that  my  mother  was  so  beautiful."* 

*  Dion,  "  Hist."  lib.  lxi,  p.  696.     Ovx  tjSnv  oft  ovr«  xaVkriv  pr]Ttpct 

(132) 


AGRIPPINA.  133 

Of  all  the  lost  works  of  the  ancients,  the  loss  most  to  be 
deplored  is  that  of  the  commentaries  of  Agrippina,  to  which 
Tacitus  refers  as  his  authority  for  matters  which  he  had  not 
found  elsewhere.  He  describes  the  work  as  a  history  of  her 
own  life,  and  of  the  fate  of  her  relations.*  The  loss  of  a  work 
of  history  is  a  positive  loss  of  wisdom  to  the  world  which  can- 
not be  supplied  ;  in  the  case  of  a  history  written  by  a  woman 
of  the  great  abilities  of  Agrippina,  and  who  had  mingled  so 
much  as  she  had  done  in  scenes  of  blood  and  licentiousness, 
the  loss  is  felt  with  double  acuteness. 

*  Id  ego  a  scriptoribus  annalium  non.  traditum,  reperi  in  commentariis 
Agripinnae  filiae  ;  quae  Neronis  principis  mater,  vitam  suam  et  casus  suo- 
rum  posteris  memoravit." — Tacitus,  Annales,  lib.  rv,  c.  53. 


POPP^A    SABINA. 


Popp^ea  Sabina,  the  mistress  and  second  wife  of  Nero, 
according  to  Tacitus,  inherited  great  beauty  from  her  mother. 
She  had,  like  her  lover,  yellow  hair;  and  Nero,  who  amongst 
his  other  accomplishments  was  a  poet,  wrote  verses  in  praise 
of  her  amber  locks  {capittos  succineos.)*  The  extreme  white- 
ness of  her  skin,  the  usual  accompaniment  of  golden  hair,  she 
preserved  by  bathing  every  day  in  asses'  milk,  and  wherever 
she  went,  she  had  along  with  her  a  troop  of  five  hundred  she- 
asses  to  furnish  her  bath.f 

In  a  curious  little  volume  called  "  Abdeker,  or  the  Art  of 
Preserving  Beauty,"  written  by  Camus,  a  French  physician, 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  the  practice  of  Poppsea  is 
referred  to,  and  the  writer  asserts  that  "  this  kind  of  milk, 
as  well  as  goats'  milk,  takes  away  the  wrinkles  of  the  skin, 
and  gives  it  a  certain  gloss  that  pleases  both  the  senses  of  see- 
ing and  feeling."^: 

The  receipt  is  probably  as  good  as  another  which  Camus 
gives  for  procuring  a  white  skin,  and  is  certainly  much  safer, 
where  he   advises  walking  by  the  side  of  a  river  in  a  foo\ 

*  Plinius,  "Hist.  Natur,"  lib.  xxxvn,  c,  12. 

t  Ibid.  lib.  ix,  c.  96. 

%  Abdeker,  p.  75.    Lond.  1754. 

(134) 


POPPuEA     SABINA.  135 

"Wrinkles,  he  says,  are  removed  by  laying  slices  of  veal  on  the 
face  before  going  to  bed. 

D'Israeli,  in  his  "  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  has  noticed  the 
work  of  Camus,  and  speaks  of  the  author  as  "  a  French  phy- 
sician, who  combined  literature  with  science,  the  author  of 
1  Abdeker,  or  the  Art  of  Cosmetics,'  which  he  discovered  in 
exercise  and  temperance."  It  is  quite  clear  from  this  erroneous 
description  of  the  book,  that  D'Israeli  had  never  gone  beyond 
the  title-page  of  "  ^Vbdeker."  It  is  a  collection  of  ridiculous 
and  nonsensical  receipts  for  preserving  beauty  such  as  those 
that  I  have  quoted.  "Where  fatness  is  not  fashionable,  for  in- 
stance, Camus  tells  us  that  a  woman  may  cure  herself  of  it 
by  wearing  a  girdle  of  salt  about  her  wTaist.  Where  fatness 
is  admired,  as  in  Egypt,  he  tells  us  a  rather  more  natural 
process  which  is  had  recourse  to  in  order  to  obtain  the  desired 
beauty. 

"  The  women  of  Egypt,"  he  says,  "  in  order  to  acquire  this 
degree  of  fatness,  bathe  themselves  several  days  in  lukewarm 
water.  They  stay  so  long  in  these  baths,  that  they  eat  and 
drink  therein.  During  the  time  they  are  in  the  bath,  they 
take  every  half-hour  some  broth  made  of  a  fat  pullet,  and 
stuffed  with  sweet  almonds,  hazel-nuts,  dates,  and  pistachio 
nuts.  (These,  it  may  be  remarked,  are  the  identical  materials 
with  which  pullets  are  stuffed  in  Mussulman  houses  in  Cairo, 
at  this  day.)  After  taking  this  sort  of  broth  four  times,  they 
eat  a  fat  pullet  all  but  the  head.  When  they  come  out  of  the 
bath,  they  are  rubbed  over  with  perfumes  and  sweet-scented 
pomatum,  and  after  that,  some  of  them  take  myrobalans  be- 
fore they  go  to  bed  ;  others  take  a  draught  prepared  with  gum 
tragacanth,  and  sugar-candy." 

Besides  this  famous  bath,  Poppsea  had  other  cosmetics 
which  have  obtained  celebrity.  Juvenal,  in  noticing  the  coat- 
ings of  bread  which  the  Eoman  women  and  Roman  voluptua- 
ries, like  the  Emperor  Otho,  laid  on  their  faces  to  improve  the 


136  CLASSIC    A2JD   HI8TOKI0    PORTRAITS. 

delicacy  of  their  complexions,  mentions  the  ointments  of  Pop- 
psea— pinguia  Poppicena.  These  ointments  were  removed 
when  the  Eoman  women  prepared  for  company.  The  bitter 
satirist  tells  us  that  the  licentious  wife  smeared  the  lips  of  her 
husband  with  plasterings  and  grease,  but  went  to  her  para- 
mour with  these  coatings  removed,  and  her  skin  purely  washed 
and  perfumed.* 

Besides  bathing  in  asses'  milk,  and  using  the  famous  oint- 
ments which  continued  long  after  to  bear  her  name,  Poppsea, 
it  is  believed,  sought,  like  Otho,  her  second  husband,  to  im- 
prove the  fairness  of  her  face  by  the  application  to  it  of  bread 
steeped  in  milk. 

The  luxurious  life  of  Poppsea  was  encouraged  by  Nero, 
whose  passion  for  her  was  fanatical.  It  is  said  that  he  caused 
to  be  made  for  her  a  golden  comb,  and  when  one  of  her  amber 
hairs  fell  out,  he  made  it  be  fastened  in  gold,  and  placed  it  on 
the  head  of  Juno's  statue  in  her  temple.  It  is  to  this  circum- 
stance, which  is  mentioned  somewhere  in  one  of  Plutarch's 
treatises,  though  I  am  unable  to  give  the  reference,  that  Jere- 
my Taylor  evidently  alludes,  in  a  passage  in  his  beautiful 
treatise,  "  The  Eule  and  Exercises  of  Holy  Living,"  and 
wThere  he  is  speaking  of  persons  who,  in  the  midst  of  great 
enjoyments,  pine  away  on  account  of  trifling  vexations.  "  Such 
a  person,"  he  says,  "  is  fit  to  bear  Nero  company  in  his  fune- 
ral sorrow  for  the  loss  of  one  of  Poppsea's  hairs,  or  help  to 
mourn  for  Lesbia's  sparrow."! 

Besides  her  expensive  bath,  Xiphelin  tells  us  that  the  mules 
on  which  Poppsea  rode  were  led  by  golden  cords.  It  appears 
that  she  did  not  trust  altogether  to  the  powers  of  her  mind, 
excellent  as  they  were,  for  preserving  her  influence.  One 
day,  observing  as  she  looked  in  her  mirror,  some  traces  of 

*  Juvenal,  "  Sat."  lib.iv,  4G0. 

t  Jeremy  Taylor,  "  Holy  Living,"  149.     Lond.     1840. 


POPP^A     SABINA.  137 

the  decay  of  her  beauty,  she  expressed  a  desire  that  she  might 
die  rather  than  grow  old.  When  Anne  of  Austria,  the  wife 
of  Louis  XIII. ,  noticed  during  her  last  sickness  that  her 
beautiful  hands  had  begun  to  swell,  she  said,  "  It  is  time  for 
me  to  depart !" 

All  historians  agree  in  ascribing  to  Poppaea  the  most  con- 
summate art  in  the  management  of  her  beauty,  and  in  attract- 
ing admiration.  She  could  be  licentious,  Tacitus  tells  us, 
with  an  appearance  of  modesty.  She  seldom  went  abroad, 
and  when  she  did  she  so,  veiled  the  half  of  her  face,  in  order 
not  to  satisfy  the  desire  of  gazing  at  her  ;  or,  as  he  malicious- 
ly adds,  because  this  fashion  became  her  best.  Tacitus  has 
described  with  great  skill  the  arts  by  which  she  captivated 
Nero,-  professing  herself  to  be  overcome  by  the  emperor's 
beauty.  Her  skill  in  heightening,  by  every  artifice,  the  effect 
of  her  charms,  has  become  almost  proverbial. 

Our  great  dramatist,  Massinger,  has  in  more  than  one  of  his 
plays,  referred  to  Poppaea  as  an  accomplished  mistress  of  the 
arts  of  attraction  and  seduction.  Thus,  in  the  "  Duke  of 
Milan,"  (Act  ii.  sc.  2.) 

"  And  she  that  lately- 
Rivalled  Poppaea  in  her  varied  shapes." 

In  the  "  Picture,"  (Act  ii.  sc.  2.) 

"  And  in  corrupting  him  I  will  outgo 
Nero's  Poppaea." 

And  again,  in  "  A  very  Woman,"  Leonora  says  of  Almirah, 

"  But  so  adorned  as  if  she  were  to  rival 
Nero*s  Poppaea  or  the  Egyptian  Queen." 

Poppsea's  practice  of  bathing  in  milk  as  well  as  bathing  in 
wine,  has  not  been  unknown  in  modern  times.  Milk,  it  ap- 
pears, is  used  for  preserving  beauty ;  wine  for  recovering  it. 
D'Israeli  refers  to  a  complaint  of  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  who 


138  CLASSIC  AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

had  the  custody  of  Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  during  her  impris- 
onment at  Fotheringhay,  of  the  expenses  of  the  Queen  for 
wine  to  her  bath.  "  A  learned  Scotch  physician,"  says  D'ls- 
raeli,  "  informed  me  that  white  wine  was  used  for  these  pur- 
poses. They  also  made  a  bath  of  milk.  Elder  beauties 
bathed  in  wine  to  get  rid  of  their  wrinkles  ;  and  perhaps  not 
without  reason,  wine  being  a  great  astringent.  Unwrinkled 
beauties  bathed  in  milk  to  preserve  the  softness  and  sleekness 
of  the  skin."* 

The  celebrated  Diana  of  Poitiers,  who  is  described  as  still 
very  beautiful  in  old  age,  according  to  a  story  preserved  by 
Brantome,  though  she  used  no  painting,  took  the  aurum  %)ola- 
bile  and  other  drugs  every  morning,  to  keep  her  charms 
fresh,  f 

The  Lady  Venetia  Stanley,  the  wife  of  Sir  Kenelm  Digby, 
by  advice  of  her  husband,  who  dived  into  all  kinds  of  myste- 
ries, and  was  filled  with  every  sort  of  superstition,  was  put  on 
a  diet  of  capons  fed  with  vipers,  which  the  knight  had  ascer- 
tained to  be  a  certain  method  of  preserving  beauty  to  extreme 
old  age. 

An  amiable  desire  to  please  has  led  to  yet  more  heroic 
efforts  on  the  part  of  women.  Montaigne  tells  us,  as  of  a 
thing  well  known  in  his  time,  of  a  lady  in  Paris  who  caused 
herself  to  be  flayed,  in  order  to  acquire  the  freshness  of  a 
new  skin ; J  and  in  the  works  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
where  she  speaks  of  ladies  pulling  the  hair  out  of  their  eye- 
brows, and  leaving  only  a  thin  row,  she  tells  us  of  others 
lt  peeling  the  first  skin  off  the  face  with  oil  of  vitriol,  that  a  new 
skin  may  come  in  its  place,  which,"  she  adds,  "  is  apt  to 
shrivel  the  skin  underneath." 

*  "  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  p.  82.     Lond.  1843. 
|  Brantome,  "  Dames  Galantes,"  (Euvres,  iv, p.  179. 
%  Montaigne,  "  Essais,"  lib.  i,  c.  40. 


POPP^A    SABINA.  139 

Josephus,  a  the  learned  and  warlike  Jew"  and  unprincipled 
politician,  made  use  of  the  influence  of  -Poppaea  to  advance  his 
own  interest,  and  is  pleased  to  call  her  "  a  worshipper  of  the 
gods,"  (©EO0E&7?.)  Tacitus  has,  after  his  usual  manner,  drawn 
her  character  by  a  few  vivid  strokes.  He  allows  her  every 
accomplishment,  beauty  of  person,  excellent  powers  of  conver- 
sation, and  a  good  understanding,  but  denies  her  the  posses- 
sion of  virtue. 

The  burial  of  Poppaea  was  unusual.  Her  death  is  attribut- 
ed to  her  receiving  a  kick  from  Nero,  when  she  was  great  with 
child.  The  emperor  had  lost  temper  at  a  joke  which  she 
made.  "  The  body,"  says  Tacitus,  who  is  willing  to  admit, 
what  appears  to  be  the  truth,  that  she  was  really  loved  by 
Nero,  "  was  not  burned  with  fire,  after  the  Eoman  fashion, 
but  interred  with  perfumes  in  the  tomb  of  the  Julii."*  At 
the  celebration  of  her  obsequies,  Nero  pronounced  an  eulo- 
gium  on  her  beauty. 

Poppa3a  was  deified,  and  a  temple  was  erected  to  her  honor 
bearing  the  inscription  "  Sabime  Dese  Veneri,  Matronse  fece- 
runt." 

*  Tacitus,  "  Annales,  lib.  xvi,  c.  6. 


OTHO. 


The  Emperor  Otho  appears  in  well-authenticated  history  as 
the  realisation  of  what  we  read  in  those  imperfect  and  dreamy 
but  interesting  records,  on  which  romance  and  poetry  have 
had  room  and  encouragement  to  work,  of  the  Assyrian  mon- 
arch Sardanapalus.  Otho  was  brave  in  war,  habitually  calm 
in  soul,  benevolent  and  kind,  and  wholly  given  up  to  the  most 
effeminate  luxury.  His  reign  was  like  a  dream — it  lasted  just 
ninety  days.  In  his  boyhood,  he  was  much  given  to  wild 
midnight  frolics,  for  which  he  was  often  beaten.  He  became 
the  favorite  of  Nero,  and  took  Poppsea  from  her  husband,  but 
was  obliged  reluctantly  to  yield  her  up  to  the  emperor.  In 
his  banishment,  which  he  owed  to  the  jealousy  of  Nero,  he 
is  allowed  to  have  administered  the  affairs  of  the  province 
committed  to  his  charge  with  moderation  and  forbearance  * 
Like  all  the  Eoman  emperors  about  that  time,  he  believed  in 
magic.  Galba,  before  him,  had  had  his  elevation  to  the 
throne  predicted  to  him  by  a  soothsayer ;  and  Vitellius,  after 
him ,  had  his  fortune  also  foretold  him.  Seleucus,  the  magi- 
cian, prophesied  to  Otho  that  he  would  survive  Nero,  but 

*  Suetonius,  "  Otho,"  c.  3. 
(140) 


OTHO.  141 

would  only  reign  a  short  time.  He  helped  the  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy  by  his  extreme  liberality  to  the  soldiers  of  the 
guard,*  who  soon  began  to  see  clearly,  and  to  declare  plainly, 
that  Otho  was  worthy  of  the  empire. 

In  person,  Otho  was  like  a  woman,  and  he  paid  more  than 
a  woman's  regard  to  his  toilet.  His  father  is  said  to  have 
resembled  in  face  the  Emperor  Tiberius,!  and  scandal  reputed 
him  his  son.  It  would  be  desirable,  for  the  sake  of  poetic 
effect,  that  we  could  believe  that  this  elegant  voluptuary,  this 
effeminate  but  heroic  creature,  was  perfectly  graceful  in  his 
figure.  But  alas,  the  evidence  of  Suetonius  destroys  the  dream 
of  his  being  a  sort  of  Apollo — the  embodiment  of  a  Greek 
sculptor's  conception  of  a  beautiful  Sybarite ;  and  we  learn 
with  pain  that  Otho  was  badly  formed  in  the  feet,  and  besides 
was  bandy-legged  (male  pedatus,  scambusque.)\ 

The  emperor  was  of  the  middle  size.  He  used  adornings, 
says  Juvenal,  such  as  were  not  used  either  by  the  Assyrian 
Semiramis,  or  by  the  sad  Cleopatra  at  Actium.§  Like  Sarda- 
napalus,  he  painted  his  face;  and  like  the  brave  Parthian 
Surena,  he  prepared  for  battle  by  dressing  himself  before  a 
mirror.  His  body  was  smoothed,  and  freed  from  hairs;  and 
he  practised  shaving  daily,  preventing  the  growth  of  any  ap- 
pearance of  a  beard  by  the  use  of  certain  medicaments  known 
in  his  time.  To  make  his  face  fair  and  soft,  he  applied  to  it  a 
paste  made  of  bread.  To  conceal  the  thinness  of  the  hair  on 
his  head,  he  wore  a  false  head-dress.  Yet  this  voluptuary 
could  fight  like  a  lion,  and  could  cheerfully  endure  misfortune 
and  smile  in  the  face  of  death,  and  could  feel  tenderly  for  the 
sorrows  of  others,  and  could  desire  to  see  the  whole  world 
happy. 

*  Tacitus,  "Hist."  lib.  i,  c.  13. 

t   Suetonius,  "  Otho,"  i. 

X  Ibid.     12. 

()  Juvenalis,  "  Sat."  lib.  n,  c.  107. 


142  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

The  death  of  Otho — if  suicide  were  in  any  case  permissible 
— must  he  allowed  to  be  much  finer  than  that  of  the  youn- 
ger Cato ;  and  even  Christian  writers  have  not  been  able  to 
refrain  from  admiration  of  some  of  the  circumstances  of  his 
last  moments.  After  hearing  of  the  victory  of  Vitellius,  he 
parted  with  his  friends  as  night  came  on,  kissing  them  as 
usual.  He  also  furnished  those  who  wished  to  leave  the 
country  with  money  sufficient  to  carry  them  off;  and  he  des- 
troyed all  letters  and  papers  which  after  his  death  might  point 
out  his  friends  and  followers  to  the  vengeance  of  the  con- 
queror. He  restrained  the  exercise  of  any  force  on  those  who 
wished  to  desert  to  Vitellius.  He  wrote  two  consolatory  let- 
ters to  his  sister,  and  another  to  Messalina,  the  widow  of 
Nero,  whom  he  loved,  commending  to  her  his  memory.  He 
then,  in  the  true  Greek  spirit,  said,  "  Let  us  add  this  night 
also  to  our  lives,"  and  threw  himself  on  his  couch,  directing 
that  free  admission  should  be  given  to  all  who  wished  to  see 
him. 

At  midnight  he  made  choice  of  a  poignard,  and  placing  it 
below  his  pillow7,  fell  into  a  sound  sleep.  At  daybreak,  he 
awoke  and  stabbed  himself  fatally  under  the  left  breast.  The 
soldiers,  aroused  by  the  noise  of  his  fall,  rushed  in  and  washed 
his  hands  and  his  feet,  as  well  as  the  wound,  with  their  tears, 
giving  way  to  the  most  passionate  grief.  Several  of  them 
stabbed  themselves,  and  threw  themselves  on  his  dead  body. 
Others,  at  a  distance,  on  hearing  of  his  death,  also  slew 
themselves.  The  body  was  quickly  interred.  It  had  been 
Otho's  request;  he  feared  that  his  remains  might  be  mutilated 
by  the  brutal  Vitellius,  and  he  desired  that  his  mangled  body 
might  not  be  a  disagreeable  object. 

The  ancients  admired  fine  deaths  ;  and  the  contemporaries 
of  Otho  were  in  raptures  at  the  details  of  his  last  moments. 
Tacitus  has  dwelt  with  undisguised  pleasure  on  the  particulars 
which  we  have  on  record.     Suetonius  tells  us  that  even  those 


OTHO.  143 

who  hated  the  living  Otho,  now  praised  him  dead,  and 
allowed  that  he  had  slain  Galba  not  for  the  sake  of  reigning, 
but  to  restore  liberty  to  Eome.  And  Dion,  who  is  more 
severe  on  the  general  character  of  Otho  than  the  other  his- 
torians, concludes  the  history  of  his  life  by  saying  that 
"  though  he  had  lived  most  wickedly,  he  died  most  beautifully 
(xct^uata  aiftdavs) ;  and  the  government  which  he  had  most 
criminally  usurped,  he  laid  down  with  the  greatest  virtue." 


COMMODUS 


There  are  some  of  the  Roman  emperors  whose  wickedness 
assumed  so  revolting  a  character  that,  in  describing  their  man- 
ners, it  becomes  necessary  not  so  much  to  collect  together,  as 
to  make  a  selection  from,  the  ample  materials  furnished  by  the 
plain-speaking  and,  to  modern  notions,  indelicate  narratives  of 
their  historians.  Such  a  man  as  I  have  already  noticed  was 
Tiberius ;  and  such  a  man  was  also  the  infamous  and  hateful 
Commodus,  the  undoubted  son  of  the  wicked  Faustina,  and 
the  reputed  and  legitimate  son  of  the  philosophic  Marcus  An- 
toninus. 

The  faithful  and  elegant  Herodian,  the  Augustan  historian 
iElius  Lampridius,  and  Dion  Cassius  all  join  in  great  harmony 
in  presenting  us  with  a  complete  portrait  of  this  very  singular 
and  very  wicked  man. 

Commodus  was  eminently  handsome  and  beautiful.  Hero- 
dian calls  him  the  most  beautiful  man  of  his  age.  His  person 
united  dignity  and  elegance.  His  face,  he  says,  was  at  once 
beautiful  and  manly  ;  his  eyes  were  shining ;  his  hair  was  of 
that  kind  which  the  ancients  admired  either  in  man  or  woman, 
yellow  and  crisped.  When  he  walked  in  the  sun,  this  histo- 
rian tells  us,  his  locks  glittered  like  fire,  so  that  some  believed 
they  were  sprinkled  with  gold-dust. 

(144) 


COMMODUS.  145 

iElius  Lampridius  was  one  of  those  who  held  this  belief — 
for  he  tells  us  that  Commodus's  hair  was  always  dyed  and 
illuminated  with  filings  of  gold.  It  is  well  known  that  some 
of  the  emperors  about  this  period  sprinkled  their  hair  with 
gold-dust.  Those,  however,  who  thought  that  the  glitter  in 
his  hair  wras  natural,  regarded  it  as  an  evidence  of  his  divine 
origin.  Commodns,  monster  of  wickedness  as  he  was,  was 
deified  by  the  senate ;  but  those  who  wTere  learned  in  court 
scandal  believed  the  Eoman  emperor  to  be  the  fruit  of  his 
profligate  mother's  love  for  one  of  the  common  boatmen. 

iElius,  who  tells  us  that  Commodus  was  of  middle  stature, 
detracts  somewhat  from  the  extreme  beauty  attributed  to  him 
by  Herodian,  when  he  tells  us  that  his  face  was  like  that  of  a 
drunkard ;  but  this  remark  has  been  thought  to  refer  to  the 
gleaming  of  his  eyes.  Commodus  was  both  a  glutton  and  a 
drunkard.  Dion  tells  us  that  he  drank  largely,  and  Herodian 
much  more  impressively  conveys  the  same  fact  to  his  readers 
in  relating  the  last  scenes  of  the  emperor's  life.  He  represents 
his  mistress  Marcia,  when  she  finds  her  name  standing  first 
on  the  emperor's  tablets  in  the  list  of  persons  to  be  put  to 
death,  exclaiming,  "  Ah  !  well  done,  Commodus  !  And  are 
these  the  rewards  of  my  kindness  and  love  ?  Is  it  this  I  have 
deserved  of  thee  for  having  for  so  many  years  borne  with  thy 
reproaches  and  thy  drunkenness.  But  these  things  shall  not 
succeed  with  thee,  a  drunken  man,  against  a  sober  woman." 

In  speaking  farther  of  his  extreme  beauty,  Herodian  tells 
us  that  there  was  a  soft  down  on  Commodus's  cheeks  like  that 
which  appears  on  flowers.  iElius  informs  us  that  this  mon- 
ster, who  was  in  the  habit  of  cutting  off  people's  noses  and 
ears  for  his  amusement,  was  afraid  to  trust  himself  in  the 
hands  of  a  barber,  and  used  to  burn  his  hair  and  beard. 

Commodus  received  the  highest  education  which  the  most 
learned  teachers  of  the  age  could  impart  to  him.     His  father, 
the  philosophic  emperor,  had  spared  no  expense  in  engaging 
7 


146  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

the  most  eminent  masters  in  every  kind  of  knowledge  for  the 
instruction  and  cultivation  of  the  mind  of  this  strange  young 
man. 

It  is  historically  true,  that,  like  Nero,  he  commenced  his 
reign  with  the  universal  love  of  his  people  in  his  favor.  All 
Kome  met  him  on  his  entrance  after  the  death  of  Marcus,  and 
strewed  his  path  with  garlands  and  flowers.  iElius  represents 
him  as  abominably  wicked  from  his  very  childhood.  On  the 
other  hand,  Dion  tells  us  that,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  when 
he  became  emperor,  he  was  of  an  open,  simple,  and  some- 
what timid  disposition,  and  easily  led  to  evil ;  and  Herodian, 
in  one  part  of  his  narrative,  so  far  confirms  this  statement 
when  he  says  that  "sometimes  the  memory  of  his  father,  and 
then  reverence  for  his  friends,  restrained  this  young  man,  but 
presently  a  certain  malignant  and  invidious  fortune  overthrew 
the  rectitude  and  moderation  of  his  mind." 

"What  progress  he  made  in  the  learned  studies  prescribed  to 
him  by  the  pedants  with  which  his  boyhood  was  surrounded, 
does  not  clearly  appear.  iElius  says  his  discourse  wTas  un- 
polished. He  was,  however,  like  Nero,  whom  in  so  many 
respects  he  resembled,  the  master  of  a  variety  of  accomplish- 
ments more  or  less  becoming  a  prince.  He  danced  and  sung, 
and  played  on  the  pipe;  but  these  were  also  accomplishments 
of  the  amiable  Epaminondas.  Commodus  was,  besides,  a 
chariot-driver,  a  gladiator,  and  a  mimic  or  buffoon.  He  fre- 
quented taverns,  and  places  lower  than  taverns,  and  there 
made  himself  generally  useful.  It  is  mentioned,  to  his  deep 
discredit,  that  he  played  at  dice.  The  ancients  attached  to 
playing  at  games  of  chance  something  like  the  same  infamy 
which  the  Mussulmans  do.  The  eulogists  of  Augustus  notice 
as  a  crime  in  him  that  he  played  at  dice. 

Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  treatise  on  "  Holy  Living,"  has  an 
enumeration  of  kings  who  degraded  themselves  by  exercising 
callings   otherwise   useful,   but  unsuitable  to  their    stations. 


COMMODUS.  147 

"  Some  there  are,"  he  says,  in  the  section  on  "  Care  of  our 
Time,"  "that  employ  their  time  in  affairs  infinitely  below  the 
dignity  of  their  persons ;  and  being  called  by  God  and  by  the 
republic  to  help  to  bear  great  burdens,  and  to  judge  a  people, 
do  enfeeble  their  understandings  and  disable  their  persons  by 
sordid  and  brutish  business.  Thus  Nero  went  up  and  down 
Greece,  and  challenged  the  fiddlers  at  their  trade.  iEropus,  a 
Macedonian  king,  made  lanterns.  Harcatius,  the  king  of  Par- 
thia,  was  a  mole-catcher;  and  Biantes,  the  Lydian,  filed 
needles."  He  does  not  mention  that  Commodus  practised 
the  art  of  the  potter  and  made  cups. 

Commodus  was  the  strongest  man  of  his  time,  and  his 
dexterity  in  killing  wild  beasts  in  the  arena  made  him  a 
favorite  with  the  populace,  as,  indeed,  he  continued  to  be 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  reign.  His  delight  was  to 
personate  Hercules,  and  he  went  about  with  a  large  club  in 
his  hand  and  a  lion's  hide  thrown  over  his  shoulders.  The 
people,  who  delighted  in  seeing  him  slaying  ferocious  animals, 
and  even  exercising  his  great  strength  in  killing  the  harmless 
cameleopard,  were  disgusted  when  they  saw  their  emperor 
enter  the  arena  as  a  naked  gladiator. 

Amongst  his  other  wild  freaks,  in  which  he  reminds  us  of 
Nero  and  Caligula,  Commodus  offered  sacrifices  to  Isis  in  his 
palace,  and  appeared  dressed  as  one  of  her  priests,  with  his 
head  shaved.  In  her  processions  he  was  accustomed  to  carry 
the  image  of  "  the  dog  Anubis,"  and  to  beat  the  bare  heads 
of  the  other  priests  with  the  snout  of  the  beast. 

This  man,  with  the  beauty  of  Apollo  and  the  strength 
of  Hercules,  indulged  in  every  sensuality  and  effeminacy. 
He  was  at  once  a  glutton  and  a  drunkard.  He  used  the 
bath  seven  or  eight  times  a  day,  and  was  in  the  habit  of 
eating  in  the  bath — a  fashion  amongst  Oriental  women 
which  induces  that  fatness  which  is  regarded  as  beauty.     In 


148  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

the  theatre,  Commodus  sat  in  female  attire  and  drunk  before 
the  whole  audience.  A  woman,  says  Dion,  presented  him 
with  the  most  delicious  wine  artificially  cooled  ;  and  when  he 
took  the  draught,  the  whole  audience  wished  him  "  health." 

There  was  a  resemblance  in  three  points  between  Commo- 
dus and  Csesar  Borgia  :  both  were  extremely  beautiful,- pro- 
digiously strong,  and  enormously  wicked. 


CAEAOALLA 


This  contemptible  man,  who  was  killed  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-nine,  was  even  at  that  age  dif  graced  in  the  eyes  of 
his  subjects  by  his  baldness,  besides  being  otherwise  by  na-. 
ture  ill-favored  and  of  small  stature.  In  mere  boyhood  the 
Augustan  historian  represents  him  as  gentle,  pleasant,  affable, 
benevolent,  shedding  tears  or  turning  away  his  eyes  from 
sights  of  cruelty.*  Writers  and  readers  delight  in  strong 
contrasts,  and  especially  in  making  wonderful  and  unnatural 
contrasts  between  the  boyhood  and  the  maturity  of  celebrated 
men.  These  stories  about  the  amiable  virtues  of  the  monster 
Caracalla,  are,  I  suspect,  fictions  and  imaginations  created  to 
feed  the  popular  love  of  romance.  Thus  a  thousand  stories 
are  told  about  the  stupidity,  in  boyhood,  of  men  who  after- 
wards displayed  the  greatest  genius.  Sir  Walter  Scott  is 
given  as  an  instance.  Yet  that  a  boy  could  be  stupid  at  ten 
years  of  age  and  intellectual  at  twenty,  may  be  safely  pro- 
nounced to  be,  if  not  an  impossibility — because  there  is  nothing 
that  mortals  are  entitled  to  pronounce  impossible — yet  certain- 
ly a  circumstance  that  never  once  happened  in  this   world. 

*  iElius  Spartianus,  "Hist.  August.  Scriptores,"  Kb.  r,  706.  Lugd. 
Batav.  1671. 

(149) 


150  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

These  monstrous  fables  issue  from  the  cloudy  brains  of 
schoolmasters,  the  most  ignorant  of  all  judges  of  character  and 
intellect.  A  schoolmaster  calls  that  boy  clever  who  is  dull 
enough  and  mechanical  enough  and  sufficiently  devoid  of  a 
mind  of  his  own,  to  diligently  imbibe  the  generally  worthless 
instruction  which  he  communicates  to  him ;  and  he  bestows 
the  name  of  dunce  on  the  other  boy  who  has  enough  of  intre- 
pidity about  him  to  select  his  studies  for  himself,  and  to  re- 
gard his  master's  intellect  with  anything  but  unquestioning 
veneration. 

However  it  may  have  been  with  the  boyhood  of  Caracalla, 
the  same  historian  who  speaks  so  highly  of  his  early  virtues, 
represents  him  as  a  most  ferocious  and  bloodthirsty  youth — 
and  at  the  same  time  in  his  aspect  severe,  gloomy,  and  trucu- 
lent. Hero di an  describes  with  much  minute  detail  and  great 
fidelity  to  nature,  the  rise,  progress,  and  manifestations  of  the 
hatred  between  him  and  his  half-brother  Geta.  Dion  gives 
us  a  strange  and  most  picturesque  account  of  the  murder  of 
Geta  in  the  arms  of  his  mother,  the  beautiful  Julia.  The  bro- 
thers, at  the  instance  of  the  treacherous  Caracalla,  had  agreed 
to  meet  in  the  empress's  bed-chamber,  to  be  reconciled  in  her 
presence.  Caracalla  surrounded  the  palace  with  soldiers. 
The  picture  is  not  complete  unless  we  recollect  that  Geta  was 
a  youth  of  twenty-five  years  of  age.  He  was  killed  in  his 
mother's  arms,  while  "  he  hung  on  her  neck  and  clasped  her 
breasts,  and  weeped,  and  cried  '  Mother !  mother !  parent ! 
help  me — I  am  killed  !'  while  Julia  was  bathed  in  his  blood."* 
The  words  given  below  may  be  received  as  the  real  language 
used  by  Geta,  which  might  be  learned  by  Dion,  living  at  the 

*  M^rtp  jw^TEp,  tfEacoDifa,  Tsxovcsa,  6or}9(i,  a$a§o/t(n.  Dion, 
"  Hist.  Rom."  lib.  lxxvii,  p.  871.  (Leunclavius)  Hanoviae,  1606.  A 
language  like  the  English,  without  the  tenninational  distinctions  of  gen- 
der, cannot  do  justice  to  this  curious  passage.  In  the  Latin  it  is  pretty 
faithfully  rendered— Mater  mater,  genetrix,  genetrix,  &c. 


CARACALLA.  151 

time.  Both  Caracalla  and  Geta  were  well  instructed'  in 
Greek  in  their  childhood.  It  will  be  observed  that  Herodian 
represents  Caracalla  as  stabbing  Geta  with  his  own  hand. 
Dion  attributes  his  death  to  the  hired  soldiers.  Throughout 
his  after-life,  Caracalla  used  to  make  jokes  on  the  murdered 
Geta ;  at  other  times  to  shed  tears  when  his  name  was  men- 
tioned, or  when  he  happened  to  cast  his  eyes  on  an  image  or. 
statue  of  him.- 

Caracalla's  want  of  hair  would  have  subjected  him  to  ridi- 
cule with  the  Eomans  even  if  he  had  been  a  man  of  virtue. 
On  one  occasion  in  particular,  it  made  him  the  subject  of 
contemptuous  laughter  to  the  rabble.  This  mean-looking 
man  had  a  passion  for  imitating  and  acting  the  characters  of 
Achilles  and  Alexander,  both  famous  with  the  ancients  for 
their  beauty.-  Amongst  his  other  wild  frolics,  Caracalla  pro- 
ceeded to  Troy,  and  visited  what  was  believed  to  be  the  tomb 
of  the  swift-footed  son  of  Thetis,  magnificently  decked  with 
crowns  and  flowers.  Then,  in  the  character  of  Achilles,  he 
made  a  funeral  of  his  deceased  friend  Festus,  as  his  beloved 
Patroculus.  The  pile  was  reared,  the  sacrifices  were  offered, 
the  wine  was  poured  out,  and  the  winds  were  invoked.  But 
when,  after  the  fashion  of  Achilles  and  the  rites  of  mourning 
amongst  the  Greeks,  he  had  to  cut  -off  his  locks  and  throw 
them  into  the  flames,  the  spectators  burst  out  into  a  shout  of 
laughter,  when  he  could  only  get  a  few  scattered  hairs  to 
sacrifice.* 

This  degraded  monster's  favorite,  however,  was  the  heroic 
Alexander.  In  order  to  keep  alive  the  memory  of  the  Mace- 
donian hero,  as  if  it  were  in  danger  of  perishing  without  his 
care,  Caracalla  busied  himself  in  erecting  statues  and  images 
of  him  in  all  the  temples.     He   had,   Dion   tells    us,    armor 

*  Herodian,  iv,  14. 


152  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

such  as  was  worn,  and  cups  such  as  were  used  by  Alexander. 
Amongst  other  monuments  of  the  emperor's  folly,  Herodian 
had  seen  a  double-faced  image,  one  side  of  which  was  the 
portrait  of  Alexander,  and  the  other  that  of  Caracalla.  The 
emperor  himself  wore  the  Macedonian  dress,  and  had  a  cho- 
sen band  of  young  men  in  his  army  whom  he  called  "  the  Ma- 
cedonian phalanx,"  all  the  captains  of  which  he  caused  to 
be  called  by  the  name  of  Alexander's  generals.  Dion  re- 
marks that  Caracalla,  cruel  to  all  else,  was  kind  and  generous 
to  his  soldiers  in  imitation  of  Alexander. 

He  proceeded  to  Alexandria,  and  there  he  visited  the  mon- 
ument of  Alexander,  on  which  he  deposited  his  rich  vest- 
ments, his  rings,  and  other  ornaments.  All  this,  of  course, 
served  not  to  promote  his  glory,  but  just  to  provoke  the  ridi- 
cule of  the  people  of  Alexandria,  who,  says .  Herodian,  as  I 
have  mentioned  before  in  the  sketch  of  Alexander,  laughed  at 
him,  that  he,  a  man  of  small  stature,  should  ape  Alexander 
and  Achilles,  those  very  valiant  and  great  warriors. 

Caracalla  labored  under  ill-health,  arising,  says  Dion,  from 
manifest  and  secret  diseases.  Like  Caligula,  he  was  troubled 
with  visions  of  spectres.  In  his  delirium  he  was  terrified  by 
the  apparitions  of  his  father  and  his  brother  brandishing 
swords.  In  order  to  learn  a  remedy  for  his  malady,  he  in- 
voked the  spirits  of  the  dead,  and  especially  of  his  father  and 
ofCommodus,  and  Commodus  is  said  to  have  given  him  an- 
swers by  no  means  of  a  soothing  or  cheering  kind.  He  con- 
sulted also  the  magicians,  who  predicted  his  death  by  the  hand 
of  Macrinus. 

Various  prodigies  foretold  his  fate.  He  was  in  the  habit 
of  keeping  tame  lions  about  him.  His  favorite  lion  was  called 
Acinax.  This  beast  used  to  dine  at  his  table,  and  at  night 
to  lie  in  bed  with  him,  and  the  emperor  was  observed  fre- 
quently to  kiss  him  in  public.      Shortly  before  his  death,  as 


.     CARACALLA.  153 

he  was  -passing  through  a  certain  gate  where  Acinax  was, 
unobserved  by  him,  the  favorite  lion  laid  hold  of  his  robe  and 
tore  it. 

In  the  repositories  of  this  hateful  criminal,  a  variety  of  poi- 
sons, procured  by  him  at  great  expense  from  the  East,  were 
discovered  and  consigned  to  the  flames. 


HELIOGABALUS 


We  have  a  profusion  of  materials  regarding  the  person, 
habits,  and  fashions,  as  well  as  the  follies  and  vices  of  Helio- 
gabalus,  that  strange  compound  of  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Nero, 
Vitellius,  and  Commodus,  with  the  Assyrian  Sardanapalus — 
for  there  was  a  more  Oriental  taste  about  this  effeminate  crea- 
ture than  about  any  other  of  the  Roman  emperors.  The  cir- 
cumstance wTas  observed  by  the  populace,  who,  as  we  learn 
from  Dion,  amongst  the  other  epithets  which  they  bestowed 
on  him,  called  him  Sardanapalus  and  Assyrius.* 

This  boy,  for  he  was  but  a  mere  youth  when  he  was 
killed,  had  before  his  death  rivalled  the  varied  wickedness  of 
all  the  worst  of  his  predecessors.  The  Augustan  historian 
iElius  Lampridius  is  copious  to  overflowing  in  all  manner  of 
details  about  his  daily  life,  and  between  him  and  the  curious 
Dion  and  the  elegant  Herodian,  which  two  last  historians  may 
have  seen  the  emperor,  we  have  the  complete  picture  of  this 
monster  of  depravity.  Lampridius  in  his  narrative  refers  to 
many  records  which  he  says  were  compiled  of  the  private  life 
of  Heliogabalus,  and  especially  to  a  biography  of  him  by  Ma- 
rius  Maximus.     In  the  midst  of  all  the  horrible  details  with 


*  Dion,  «  Hist."  lib.  lxix,  p.  906. 

(154) 


HELIOGABALUS.  155 

which  he  furnishes  us,  Lampridius  professes  to  have  made 
merely  a  decent  selection  out  of  the  materials  before  him, 
omitting  the  more  infamous  particulars,  and  veiling  in  as  mod- 
est language  as  he  could  command  what  he  was  obliged  as  a 
faithful  historian  to  relate.  From  his  selection,  a  re-selection 
is  all  that  can  be  made  fit  for  presentation  to  modern  readers. 

Lampridius,  in  his  voluminous  description,  does  not  allude 
to  the  figure  and  face  of  Heliogabalus.  This  we  have,  how- 
ever, described  by  Herodian,  who  more  than  once  alludes  to 
the  great  beauty  of  his  countenance,  regreting  that  he  spoiled 
it  with  painting  and  unguents.  Herodian's  description  of  the 
appearance  of  the  young  emperor  as  the  priest  of  the  god  He- 
liogabalus, whose  name  and  honors  he  afterwards  assumed,  is 
exceedingly  striking  and  picturesque.  Bassianus  (Heliogaba- 
lus's  name  was  Bassianus  Antoninus)  and  his  younger  bro- 
ther, Alexianus,  afterwards  Alexander  Severus,  were  both 
priests  of  the  Assyrian  god  Heliogabalus,  or  the  Sun. 

"  Bassanius,  as  the  elder,"  says  Herodian,  "  discharged 
the  office  of  chief  priest.  He  walked  in  the  Eastern  dress, 
wearing  a  cloak  interwoven  with  gold,  having  long  sleeves — 
and  which,  falling  down  to  his  feet,  covered  all  his  limbs  to 
the  toes.  His  other  robes  were  of  purple,  entwined  with  gold. 
On  his  head  he  bore  -a  coronet,  glittering  with  precious  stones 
of  various  colors.  He  was  then  in  the  flower  of  his  youth, 
and  the  most  beautiful  man  of  the  times.  Hence,  with  his 
personal  charms,  his  boyhood,  and  the  remarkably  effeminate 
dress  which  he  wore,  he  was  naturally  compared  with  the 
most  beautiful  pictures  of  Bacchus."* 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  historian  censures  as  effeminate 
the  close  dress  of  Heliogabalus.  It  is  probable  that  the  em- 
peror, who  indulged  in  every  art  and  device  of  lasciviousness, 
entertained  the  Eastern  notion  that  a  close  dress  is  the  cos- 

*  Herodian,  lib.  v,  c.  5. 


156  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

turae  of  indecency,  and  that  virtue  and  innocence  are  beto- 
kened by  looseness  of  garments  and  an  approach  to  nudity. 

It  is  somewhat  curious,  that  the  figures  of  the  effeminate 
Sardanapalus,  and  of  the  licentious  Semiramis,  and  the  statues 
and  medals  of  the  Byzantine  Theodora,  who  rivalled  the  wick- 
edness of  the  most  wicked  of  the  ancients,  represent  them  as 
completely  wrapped  up  in  their  robes,  from  the  throat  to  the 
toes.  At  this  day,  the  virtuous  Malabar  woman  goes  all  un- 
covered above  the  waist,  whilst  almost  everywhere  in  the 
East,  the  dancing-girl,  who  is  unchaste  by  religious  obligation 
— is  loaded  with  clothes. 

It  was  while  celebrating  the  worship  of  his  god,  and  leading 
his  chorus  round  the  altar,  in  Oriental  fashion,  to  the  sound  of 
flutes  and  pipes,  and  other  musical  instruments,  that  the  Ro- 
man soldiers  beheld  their  future  emperor,  and  were  struck 
with  his  extreme  beauty. 

The  directors  and  guides  of  Heliogabalus's  youth  were  his 
mother,  who  is  called  Semiriama,  or  Sosemis,  and  his  grand- 
mother, Maesa,  and  both  of  these  women  he  seems  to  have 
honored  and  loved.  His  mother,  who  is  described  as  the 
most  profligate  woman  in  Home,  rivalling  in  licentiousness  the 
Messalina  of  a  former -age,  instructed  him  in  all  manner  of 
wickedness. 

The  emperor  introduced  both  his  mother  and  his  grandmo- 
ther into  the  senate ;  and  there  was  then  a  senate  occupied 
with  legislation  on  women's  interests  and  affairs.  This  senate 
declared  what  dress  women  were  to  wTear,  what  orders  of 
them  should  give  place  to  other  orders,  who  should  salute 
each  other  with  a  kiss,  which  classes  should  be  carried  on  a 
horse,  an  ass,  a  mule,  or  an  ox,  or  on  a  couch,  or  in  a  chair ; 
and  whether  the  chair  should  be  covered  with  skin,  or  bone, 
or  ivory,  or  silver,  and  who  should  or  should   not  wear  gold 


HELIOGABALUS.  157 

and  gems  in  their  shoes.  These  golden  shoes  were  afterwards 
prohibited  in  the  simple  reign  of  Alexander  Severus.* 

When  he  became  emperor,  Heliogabalus  forbade  the  wor- 
ship in  Eome  of  any  other  god,  except  that  Syrian  divinity 
whose  name  he  bore,  and  whom  he  represented.  All  the 
other  worships  he  treated  with  contempt,  profaning  the  altars, 
violating  the  vestal  virgins,  and  seeking  to  extinguish  the 
sacred  fire. 

The  election  of  the  emperor  took  place  when  he  was  in  the 
East.  He  proceeded  to  JSTicomedia,  and  there  spent  the  win- 
ter. Here  we  have  a  vivid  picture  of  his  mode  of  life  by  He- 
rodian.  "  He  presently  began  to  riot  in  licentiousness,  cele- 
brating the  worship  of  his  god  with  dances,  clothed  in  a  luxu- 
rious robe  interwoven  with  purple,  and  wearing  bracelets  and 
necklaces,  and  other  golden  ornaments  and  coronets,  after  the 
form  of  the  tiara,  and  adorned  with  gold  and  precious  stones. 
The  fashion  of  his  robe  was  compounded  of  the  sacred  stole 
of  Phoenicia  and  the  soft  attire  of  the  Mede.  The  Eomanand 
Greek  garments  being  made  of  wool,  { the  vilest  of  things,'  as 
he  used  to  say,  nothing  pleased  him  but  the  webs  of  Syria ; 
and  in  celebrating  the  worship  of  his  god,  he  walked  abroad 
to  the  sound  of  pipes  and  drums."t 

All  this  is  intensely  Oriental.  Heliogabalus  had  completely 
understood  and  assumed  the  Eastern  character. 

The  following  account  from  Herodian  gives  a  complete  pic- 
ture of  an  Oriental  religious  festival.  Heliogabalus  had  re- 
solved to  lead  out  his  god  in  a  splendid  procession,  and  made 
great  sports,  and  spectacles,  and  feasts  for  the  people  on  the 
occasion.  The  deity  was  placed  on  a  chariot,  ornamented 
with  gold  and  precious  stones,  and  in  this  way  was  drawn 
from  the  town  to  the  country. 

*  iElius Lampridius,  "Hist.  August.  Scriptores,"  lib.  i,  798. 
t  Herodian,  lib.  v,  c  11. 


158  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

In  the  chariot  were  yoked  horses  of  great  size,  and  of  a 
spotless  white  color,  and  conspicuous  from  their  splendid 
trappings.  Heliogabalus  held  the  reins,  but  he  did  not  ascend, 
nor  did  any  mortal  mount  the  chariot,  which  appeared  to  be 
driven  by  the  god  himself.  So  in  the  Indian  processions  of 
Vishnu,  the  car  pulled  by  his  worshippers,  appears  to  be 
guided  by  the  divinity  himself.  Heliogabalus,  with  the  reins 
in  his  hands,  ran  backwards,  with  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  idol, 
and  in  this  way  completed  the  whole  procession.  To  prevent 
his  slipping  his  foot,  gold-dust  was  sprinkled  on  the  road,  and 
the  soldiers  guarded  him  on  each  side  for  ear  he  might  fall. 
The  people,  in  the  meantime,  ran  in  crowds,  with  torches  in 
their  hands,  scattering  about  flowers  and  garlands. 

The  images  of  the  gods,  and  all  the  ornaments  and  furni- 
ture of  the  temples,  and  the  soldiers  with  the  Eoman  ensigns, 
accompanied  this  exhibition.  Lofty  towers  were  erected., 
which,  after  the  procession,  the  emperor  ascended,  and  threw 
down  amongst  the  people  gold  and  silver  cups,  and  garments 
of  every  kind.  In  the  crushing  made  to  lay  hold  of  these 
prizes,  many  were  suffocated,  others  were  trodden  underfoot, 
and  others  fell  on  the  spears  of  the  soldiers.  The  emperor,  in 
the  meantime,  was  seen  driving  about,  or  dancing  in  the  most 
effeminate  manner,  with  his  eyes  and  his  cheeks  painted; 
"disfiguring,"  says  the  historian,  "his  naturally  beautiful 
countenance  with  disgraceful  colors."* 

Dion  represents  Heliogabalus  as  obtaining  the  empire 
through  the  valor  of  his  mother  and  grandmother,  who  ap- 
peared in  the  field  against  Macrinus  his  rival ;  and  when  the 
soldiers  were  giving  way,  rallied  them  and  brought  them  back 
to  victory.! 

The  grandmother  of  Msesa  is  described  by  Herodian  as  a 
woman  of  masculine  spirit,  and  vexed  at  the  effeminate  vices  of 

*  Herodian,  lib.  v,  c.  12.  t  Dion,  «  Hist.''  lib.  i.xxvni,p.  889. 


HELIOGABALUS.  159 

Heliogabalus.  She  earnestly  entreated  her  grandson,  before 
he  marched  to  Rome,  to  lay  aside  his  Syrian  robes  and  assume 
the  Roman  dress,  and  not  to  offend  the  people  by  appearing 
in  a  costume  which  they  regarded  as  only  suitable  for  a 
worthless  woman.  The  emperor  did  every  thing  that  he  wTas 
beseeched  not  to  do.  He  resolved  to  prepare  the  people  of 
Rome  to  see  him  in  all  his  Eastern  adornments. 

For  this  purpose  he  caused  a  full-length  figure  of  himself  to 
be  made,  as  he  appeared  in  his  sacerdotal  robes,  and  sent  it 
before  him  to  Rome,  where  it  was  erected  on  an  elevation  in 
a  conspicuous  place,  in  order  that  when  the  senate  met,  they 
might  burn  frankincense,  and  pour  out  libations  of  wine  to 
him.  "  When  Heliogabalus  himself  thereafter  entered  Rome," 
says  Herodian,  "  the  people  saw  nothing  that  was  new  to 
them." 

His  entrance  to  Rome,  the  emperor  signalised  by  a  largess 
of  corn  to  the  people,  and  then  by  a  sacrifice  to  his  god  on  the 
most  magnificent  scale.  He  built  a  vast  and  most  beautiful 
temple,  and  built  several  altars  around  it,  at  which  every 
morning  hecatombs  of  bulls,  and  immense  numbers  of  birds 
were  sacrificed.  Odors  and  incense  were  heaped  up  on  the 
sacrifices,  and  the  richest  wines  were  mingled  in  profusion 
with  the  blood  of  the  victims.  Women  danced  round  the 
altars  in  a  circle,  with  cymbals  and  tabours  in  their  hands. 
The  noblest  in  the  land  carried  the  articles  required  for  the 
sacrifices  on  their  heads,  clothed  with  the  long  Phoenician 
robes,  and  wearing  the  linen  shoes  of  the  Phoenician  priest- 
hood.* 

In  his  familiarity  with  the  gods  and  goddesses,  Heliogabalus 
bears  most  resemblance  to  Caligula,  who  fell  in  love  with  the 
moon,  and  implored  her  to  share  the  imperial  bed.  Helioga- 
balus used  to  have  the  "Judgment  of  Paris"  acted  in  his 

*  Herodian,  lib.  v,  c.  12,  13. 


160  CLASSIC    AND    HISTOKIC    PORTRAITS. 

palace,  he  himself  performing  not  the  part  of  Paris,  but  of  the 
goddess  of  beauty.  He  also  sometimes  appeared  as  Venus, 
lamenting  the  cruel  fate  of  Adonis — as  indicating  the  grief 
which  would  be  felt  for  himself  when  he  should  be  removed 
from  the  world.  The  lamentation  for  Adonis,  the  Syrian 
Thammuz,  was,  however,  a  piece  of  worship  known  through- 
out the  Roman  empire,  and  in  particular  was  a  favorite  part 
of  the  religious  rites  of  Syria,  which  Heliogabalus  brought 
into  fashion.  How  beautifully,  and  in  what  an  Eastern  spirit 
has  Milton  described  this  worship  when  enumerating  the  hea- 
then divinities  amongst  the  fallen  angels  in  hell ! 

"  Thammuz  came  next  behind, 
Whose  annual  wound  in  Lebanon  allur'd 
The  Syrian  damsels  to  lament  his  fate 
In  am'rous  ditties  all  a  summer's  day  ; 
While  smooth  Adonis  from  his  native  well 
Ran  purple  to  the  sea,  suppos'd  with  blood 
Of  Thammuz  yearly  wounded  ;  the  love  tale 
Infected  Sion's  daughters  with  like  heat 
Whose  wanton  passions  in  the  sacred  porch    . 
Ezechiel  saw  when  by  the  vision  led, 
His  eyes  surveyed  the  dark  idolatries 
Of  alienated  Judah." 

Heliogabalus,  however,  assumed  the  character  and  costume 
of  all  the  gods  and  goddesses.  He  was  one  day  Cybele,  the 
great  mother  of  the  gods,  and  like  her  had  his  chariot  drawn 
by  lions.  The  next  day  he  was  Bacchus,  and  his  chariot  was 
drawn  by  the  Indian  tigers.  Heliogabalus  married  and  repu- 
diated two  or  three  beautiful  but  mere  mortal  women  before 
he  took  a  wife  from  Olympus.  He  divorced  Cornelia  Paula 
because  he  discovered  a  spot  on  her  body  ;  and  then  compelled 
the  vestal  virgin,  Aquila  Severa,  to  marry  him,  in  order  that 
from  himself,  the  high  priest,  and  her  as  a  vestal,  a  celestial 
progeny  might  be  begotten.      He  next  took  to  his  bed  the 


HELIOGABALTJS.  161 

image  of  Pallas,  which  had  been  kept  sacred  from  the  sight 
of  men  in  her  temple  since  the  time  when,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, it  had  been  brought  from  burning  Troy.  The  emperor 
introduced  the  goddess  at  court  as  his  wife.  He  grew  tired, 
however,  of  the  martial  maid,  and  took  in  her  place  the  Syrian 
Ashtaroth  or  Diana,  alleging  that  there  was  much  suitability 
in  the  match  between  him  and  her — a  marriage  of  the  sun  with 
the  moon.  The  nuptials  were  celebrated  publicly  and  pri- 
vately with  the  utmost  splendor. 

In  his  magnificence,  Heliogabalus  was  truly  Oriental.  He 
had  beds  and  couches  of  solid  silver.  He  adorned  others  of 
his  beds  with  gold.  His  chariots  glittered  with  gems.  They 
were  drawn  sometimes  by  elephants,  sometimes  by  stags,  and 
sometimes  by  beautiful  naked  women.  His  drinking  and 
cooking  vessels  were  of  silver.  He  was  guilty  of  the  luxury 
which,  at  a  later  period,  St.  Chrysostom  charges  as  a  sin 
against  the  Christian  ladies  of  Constantinople — of  using  vessels 
of  themost  precious  material  for  the  useof  mostignoble  purposes. 
He  had  cups  artificially  perfumed  for  drinking,  and  others  on 
which  lascivious  designs  were  sculptured;  an  iniquity  not 
confined  to  ancient  and  heathen  times.  At  table  he  reclined 
on  couches  stuffed  with  the  fur  of  hares  or  the  down  of  part- 
ridges. He  wore  cloaks  heavy  with  gems,  and  used  to  say 
that  he  was  burdened  with  a  load  of  pleasure.  He  had  gems 
in  his  shoes,  sculptured  with  designs  by  the  finest  artists.  He 
wore  a  diadem  of  precious  stones  that  he  might  resemble  a 
beautiful  woman.  He  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  Roman 
who  wore  robes  of  entire  silk.  He  never,  it  is  said,  wore  a 
ring  for  more  than  one  day,  or  twice  put  on  the  same  shoes. 

In  his  more  refined  and  elegant  luxuries  he  was  the  rival  of 
the  ancient  Demetrius  Poliorcetes.  He  had  beds  and  couches 
of  roses,  and  walked  amongst  lilies,  violets,  hyacinths,  and  nar- 
cissuses. When  he  wished  to  add  the  piquant  flavor  of  cru- 
elty to  his  enjoyments,  he  would  stifle  a  courtier  to  death  in  a 


162  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

bed  of  flowers.  He  swam  in  water  perfumed  with  saffron  and 
precious  unguents  ;  and  wine  and  aromatics  were  poured  into 
his  fish-ponds  and  his  baths. 

In  eating  and  drinking  he  appears  not  so  much  as  a  glutton, 
but  as  the  chief  all  royal  epicures — the  equal  is  gastronomic 
science  of  the  renowed  Apicius.  He  joined  with  all  who 
studied  the  pleasure  of  the  palate  in  admiration  of  the  dish 
which  the  Romans  made  of  the  teats  of  a  newly  farrowed  pig 
— the  most  celebrated  of  ancient  luxuries.  After  the  example 
of  Apicius  he  indulged  in  dishes  made  of  the  tender  parts  of 
the  heel  of  the  camel,  and  of  combs  torn  from  the  heads  of 
living  cocks.  This  latter  delicacy,  Casaubon,  in  his  comment- 
ary on  the  passage  in  the  Augustan  historian  in  which  it  is 
referred  to,  tells  us,  is  at  this  day — that  is,  in  his  day,  two 
hundred  years  ago — passionately  sought  after  by  men  of  learn- 
ed palates.  Like  Vitellius  he  seems  to  have  had  his  appetite 
whetted  by  the  expensiveness  of  the  dishes  which  he  procured ; 
and  like  him  he  took  a  pleasure  in  sacrificing  the  rarest  and  most 
beautiful  birds,  for  the  sake  of  eating  their  heads,  their  brains, 
or  their  tongues.  At  one  entertainment  he  displayed  on  his 
table  the  heads  of  six  hundred  ostriches,  whose  brains  as  well 
as  those  of  the  flamingo  and  thrush,  were  amongst  his  favorite 
repasts.  He  also  indulged  in  the  tongues  of  peacocks  and 
nightingales,  believing  that  they  had  a  medical  virtue  in  avert- 
ing epilepsy.  He  also  made  dishes  of  the  entrails  and  some- 
times of  the  beards  of  the  mullet,  of  the  eggs  of  partridges, 
and  the  heads  of  pheasants,  peacocks,  and  parrots.  We  won- 
der at  the  destruction  of  creatures  so  lovely  to  the  sight  as  the 
peacock,  the  flamingo,  and  the  pheasant,  for  the  particle  of 
delicate  eating  to  be  got  from  them  ;  but  epicurism  and  glut- 
tony consume  and  destroy  all  the  other  tastes. 

The  Abbe  Dubois,  in  his  curious  work  on  India,  notices 
with  regret  that  the  prospect  of  the  immense  influence  over 
the  minds  of  the  Hindus  which  they  would  have  acquired  if 


HELIOGABALUS.  163 

they  would  only  have  consented  to  abstain  from  one  single 
article  of  food — the  flesh  of  the  cow  ;  the  representative  on 
earth  of  the  goddess  Bhavani,  would  not  restrain  the  English 
from  horrifying  the  heathen  by  eating  of  that  one  article,  even 
in  the  unsavory  condition  in  which  it  is  found  in  India.  A 
devout  Danish  missionary,  of  the  Moravian  sect,  is  still  more 
severe  on  the  same  subject.  He  tells  us  that  when  an  English 
child  is  shown  any  pretty  bird  or  fish,  its  first  question  about 
it  is  :  "  Is  it  good  for  eating  ?" 

We  presume  that  Heliogabalus  knew  the  rich  merits  of  the 
goose's  liver,  though  he  may  have  been  ignorant  of  that  terri- 
ble cruelty  which  Christian  cooks,  in  modern  times,  are  guilty 
of  practising  to  please  Christian  palates  in  the  preparation  of 
the  celebrated  fat  liver ;  but  it  is  recorded  of  him  that,  wrhile 
he  put  grapes  into  his  horses'  mangers  and  fattened  his  lions 
on  parrots  and  pheasants,  he  fed  his  dogs  with  the  livers  of 
geese. 

The  genius  of  Heliogabalus  shone  particularly  bright  in  the 
cooking  of  fish.  In  this  department  he  is  said  to  have  in- 
vented new  modes  unknown  to  Apicius  ;  but  with  a  refined 
hatred  of  things  common  and  cheap,  he  would  never  taste  fish 
at  all  when  he  was  near  the  sea,  but  always  took  delight  in 
them  when  far  removed  from  water,  just  as  he  took  a  fancy 
for  having  snow  brought  to  him  in  Midsummer.  He  offered 
rewards  for  the  discovery  of  new  dishes  of  exquisite  flavor, 
and  he  had  a  humorous  way  of  stimulating  the  invention  of 
those  around  him  in  this  science.  When  a  courtier,  after  exert- 
ing his  best  skill  to  please  him,  produced  a  dish  which  he  did 
not  relish,  he  made  the  ingenious  artist  himself  continue  to  eat 
of  that  dish  and  of  nothing  else,  till  his  faculties,  sharpened 
by  disgust,  enabled  him  to  find  out  something  superior  for  his 
master. 

Like  Nero  and  Caligula,  Heliogabalus  had  his  jocularities — 
generally  practical  ones — sometimes  merely  absurd,  sometimes 


104  CLASSIC   AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

characteristically  cruel.  His  most  harmless  entertainments  in 
this  way  consisted  of  the  suppers  which  he  would  give  one 
night  to  eight  men  all  of  them  blind  of  one  eye,  sometimes  to 
eight  bald,  sometimes  to  eight  afflicted  with  gout,  then  to  eight 
deaf  men,  eight  black  men,  eight  tall,  and  eight  fat  men.  He 
kept  lions  and  leopards,  which  lay  at  table  with  him,  in  order 
to  frighten  his  friends.  He  would  get  a  company  filled  with 
drink,  and  after  locking  them  up  for  the  night  would  let  loose 
amongst  them  lions,  leopards,  and  bears,  with  their  claws 
pared,  to  terrify  them ;  and  many,  it  is  said,  died  of  the 
fright. 

At  other  times,  when  daylight  would  break  in  on  the  com- 
pany who  had  been  drinking  the  night  before,  they  would  find 
themselves  in  the  arms  of  ugly  black  old  women.  At  other 
times  he  made  sham  entertainments,  like  the  Barmicide's  feast 
in  the  Eastern  tale,  setting  his  guests  down  to  dishes  made  of 
wax,  ivory,  or  stone,  painted  after  nature.  He  collected  ser- 
pents together,  and  let  them  loose  to  bite  his  visitors.  He 
would  tie  his  courtiers  to  a  wheel,  and  have  them  whirled 
round  in  water,  calling  them,  in  allusion  to  the  mythological 
fable,  his  "  Ixionite  friends." 

Fearing  a  violent  death  from  the  vengeance  of  the  people, 
Heliogabalus  had  made  preparations  which  turned  out  to  be 
all  in  vain,  for  terminating  his  existence  in  an  elegant  manner. 
He  had  poisons  mixed  up  with  the  most  precious  articles,  he 
had  ropes  of  purple  and  crimson  silk  ready  to  strangle  him- 
self with,  and  golden  swords  to  stab  himself  with.  He  had 
also  a  high  tower  built  with  rich  adornings,  where  he  might 
breathe  out  his  last  in  royal  state. 

The  manner  of  his  death  was  just  the  reverse  of  all  that  he 
desired.  After  being  slain,  his  body  was  first  thrown  into 
the  common  sewer,  then  dragged  through  the  streets,  and  cast 
into  the  Tiber.  According  to  Herodian  and  Dion,  the  same 
indignities  were  inflicted  on  the  body  of  his  mother,  who  was 


HELIOGABALTJS.  165 

killed  at  the  same  time.  Dion  represents  Heliogabalus  as 
having  been  slain  in  her  arms,  and  states  that  both  their  heads 
were  cut  on',  and  their  bodies  stripped  naked,  and  that  the 
one  was  thrown  into  one  place  of  the  river,  and  the  other  into 
another. 

We  have  a  curious  picture  of  Eoman  manners  in  these  days 
in  the  record  of  the  various  names  of  contempt  and  derision 
which  were  bestowed  on  Heliogabalus  in  his  lifetime,  and  after 
his  death.  The  most  complimentary  were  those  of  "  Sardan- 
apalus"  and  "  Assyrius,"  in  allusion  to  the  eastern  luxury  of 
the  emperor.  From  the  licentious  amours  of  his  mother,  he 
derived,  according  to  some  authorities,  the  title  of  "  Varius," 
indicative  of  the  uncertainty  of  his  paternity  :*  though  another 
derivation  has  been  assigned  to  this  epithet.  After  his  death  he 
was  called  M  Tractitius,"  from  having  been  dragged  through 
the  streets,  and  "  Tiberinus"  from  having  been  cast  into  the 
Tiber.  His  name  of  "  Impurus"  was,  perhaps,  conferred  upon 
him  from  his  body  having  been  thrown  into  the  common  sewer, 
though  this  tittle  was  at  least  as  well  merited  by  him  in  life 
as  in  death.  Heliogabalus  had  lived  like  Vitellius,  and  the 
circumstances  of  their  deaths  were  remarkably  similar. 

*  Et  aiunt  quidem,  Varii  etiam  nomen  idcirco  eidem  inditum  a 
condiscipulis,  quod  vario  semine  de  meretrice  utpote,  conceptus  vidertur. 
iELius  LAMPEiDius,  "Hist.  August.  Script.,"  lib.  i,  794. 


ZENOBIA. 


The  person  and  habits  of  Zenobia,  the  celebrated  Queen  of 
Palmyra,  have  in  some  degree  become  familiar  to  the  general 
reader,  from  the  notice  of  them  which  Gibbon,  transcribing 
from  the  full  details  furnished  by  the  Augustan  historian,  Tre- 
bellius  Pollio,  has  embodied  in  his  fascinating  work.  It  is 
rarely  indeed  that  the  character  of  Gibbon  suffers  from  a  com- 
parison of  his  text  with  his  authorities  and  references,  and  in 
matters  of  curious  interest  he  is  seldom  chargeable  with  want 
of  sufficient  copiousness.  He  has,  however,  by  no  means  ex- 
hausted the  personal  description  of  Zenobia,  and  to  some  im- 
portant particulars  about  her  habits  he  has  made  no  allu- 
sion. 

Zenobia  says  Pollio  was  the  most  noble  and  the  most  beauti- 
ful of  all  the  women  of  the  East.*  Her  complexion,  he  tells 
us,  was  brown,  as  is  noticed  by  the  monk  in  Chaucer :     , 

«  I  say  not  that  she  had  moche  fairnesse, 

But  of  hire  schepe  she  might  not  be  amended.' 'f 

*  Trebellius  Pollio,  "Hist.  August.  Script."  lib.  n.  p.  299.     Luclg. 
Bat.  1671. 

t  Chaucer,  «  Monke's  Tale,"  b.  xiv.  259. 

(166) 


ZENOBIA.  167 

Yet  it  should  be  recollected  that  Zenobia  was  descended 
of  the  Macedonian  princes  of  Egypt,  and  reckoned  Cleopatra 
amongst  her  ancestresses.  Her  eyes  were  black  and  sparkling 
beyond  measure,*  says  Pollio ;  her  spirit  was  divine,  and  her 
beauty  incredible.  Her  teeth  were  so  white,  that  some  thought 
she  wore  pearls  instead  of  teeth.  This  is  the  most  distinctly 
Oriental  feature  in  the  picture  of  Zenobia.  There  are  teeth 
sufficiently  white  to  be  found  in  Europe,  if  they  be  diligently 
sought  after  ;  but  the  tooth  which  is  most  accurately  described 
as  "  pearly,"  having  an  appearance  of  half  transparency,  is 
purely  Asiatic. 

Her  voice,  says  Pollio,  was  clear,  and  he  adds,  manly.  She 
lived  in  royal  pomp,  after  the  manner  of  the  Persians,  and  like 
the  sovereigns  of  Persia,  received  divine  honours.  She  feasted 
after  the  fashion  of  the  Eomans.  She  went  to  'the  public  as- 
semblies with  a  helmet  on  her  head,  and  a  purple  bordered 
robe,  with  jewels  hanging  from  the  fringe,  her  under  robe 
bound  about  her  waist  with  a  clasp,  and  her  arms  often  bare. 
On  her  shoulders  she  wore  an  imperial  tunic,  or  small  cloak, 
after  the  usage  of  Queen  Dido. 

She  was  at  once  prudently  liberal,  says  Pollio,  and  economi- 
cal, beyond  a  woman's  fashion,  of  her  treasury.  She  used  a 
chariot  in  driving,  seldom  taking  a  coach,  and  often  rode  on 
horseback.  She  frequently  walked  on  foot  three  or  four  miles 
with  the  soldiers. 

"  She  marched  at  the  head  of  her  troops,"  says  Father  le 
Moyne,   "  always  the  first  at  the  fight,  and  the  last  to  retreat. 

*  Oculis  supra  modum  vigentibus,  nigris.  Salmasius  tells  us  that  the 
Palatine  manuscript,  instead  of  vigentibus,  read  ingentilus.  Gibbon  lias 
with  great  art,  given  Zenobia  the  full  benefit  of  both  readings,  besides 
adding  a  compliment  of  his  own.  "Her  large  black  eyes,"  he  says, 
«'  sparkled  with  uncommon  fire,  tempered  with  the  most  attractive 
sweetness." 


168  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Her  eyes,  indeed,  were  the  common  fire  of  the  camp ;  the  most 
cowardly  were  warmed  at  them,  and  drew  from  them  vigor 
and  courage ;  and  when  she  harangued  her  men  on  a  day  of 
assault  or  of  battle,  she  left  nothing  for  the  clarion  or  the  trum- 
pets to  do."* 

Temperance  in  the  use  of  wine  was  not  amongst  her  virtues 
— a  circumstance  remarkable  in  a  woman  so  renowned  for  her 
singular  chastity — but  she  had  great  powers  in  bearing  liquor. 
She  drank  often  with  her  generals,  says  Pollio,  though  other- 
wise she  was  sober ;  she  drank  also  with  the  Persians  and  the 
Armenians  that  she  might  overcome  them. 

At  her  feasts  she  used  vessels  of  gold  adorned  with  gems, 
such  as  Cleopatra  was  wont  to  display.  She  preferred  being 
attended  by  eunuchs  of  grave  years  rather  than  by  women. 
She  made  her  sons  speak  Latin,  so  that  it  was  only  rarely  and 
with  difficulty  that  they  spoke  Greek.  She  herself  was  not 
wholly  ignorant  of  Latin,  says  the  historian,  but  modesty  pre- 
vented her  from  speaking  it.  She  spoke  the  Egyptian  lan- 
guage perfectly,  and  was  so  well  acquainted  with  Oriental  his- 
tory, that  she  is  said  to  have  written  a  compendious  account 
of  it.f 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  Gibbon,  one  of  whose  great 
weaknesses  was  the  pleasure  which  he  felt  in  speaking  to  the 
discredit  of  women,  and  who,  in  the  history  of  this  very 
Zenobia,  has  founded  a  censure  of  the  sex  not  merely  unjust 
but  at  direct  variance  with  truth,  has  omitted  all  notice  of  the 
vice  of  drunkenness  with  which  Zenobia  has  been  charged, 
and  of  which  there  is  little  doubt  that  she  was  really  guilty. 
It  is  true  that  Pollio  tells  us  her  reason  for  drinking  ;  but  both 
men  and  women  readily  find  reasons,  quite    satisfactory  to 


*    "  Galerie  des    Fcmmes    Fortes,"    par  le   Pere   le  Moyne,   p.  210. 
Paris,  1663. 

t  "Hist.  August."  lib.  n,  335. 


ZENOBIA.  169 

themselves,  for  indulging  in  their  darling  sins.  The  jolly  En- 
glish Churchman,  who  has  enumerated  in  three  Latin  ver- 
ses the  five  reasons  for  drinking,  has  judiciously  made  reason 
fifth  so  broad  as  to  include  in  it  anything  that  any  person  at  any 
time  may  be  pleased  at  consider  as  a  reason.*  The  Roman 
writer's  statement  is  about  as  valid  a  vindication  of  Zenobia 
as  the  defence  made  by  Mr  Alison  the  historian,  of  Pitt's  deep 
drinking.  "  Though  he  often,"  says  Mr.  Alison,  in  a  passage 
of  rich,  though  perfectly  unintended,  humour,  "  drank  deeply, 
it  was  only  to  restore  nature  after  the  incessant  exhaustion  of 
his  parliamentary  efforts."  t  Mr.  Alison  just  shows  that  Pitt 
had  no  worse  and  no  better  reason  for  "  drinking  largely"  than 
other  large  drinkers  have,  or  than  drinking  weavers  and  cob- 
blers have,  while  the  defence  embodies  a  belief  in  the  danger- 
ous doctrine  that  "  drinking  largely"  as  Pitt  did,  restores  na- 
ture when  it  is  exhausted. 

Towards  Herod,  the  only  son  of  her  husband,  Odenathus — 
for  Zenobia  had  a  husband,  though  the  readers  of  her  history 
are  apt  to  forget  the  circumstance — Pollio  tells  us  that  she  dis- 
played the  spirit  of  a  step-mother.  Herod  was  an  effeminate 
creature,  wholly  given  up  to  Oriental  luxury,  delighting  in  pa- 
vilions and  tents  ornamented  with  gold.  Odenathus,  "  moved 
by  the  affection  of  paternal  indulgence,"  says  Pollio,  sent  to 
Herod  the  concubines,  riches  and  gems,  which  he  captured  in 
war.  Such  a  Sybarite  wTas  not  likely  to  disturb  the  rule  of 
a  woman  of  the  masculine  and  warlike  soul  of  Zenobia. 

Father  le  Moyne,  in  his  rhapsodical  work  on  great  women, 
has  given  a  prominent  place  to  Zenobia,  "  who,"  he  says,  "  uni- 

*  The  famous  lines  are  by  Dean  Aldrich : 

"  Si  recte  meraini,  causae  sunt  quinque  bibendi, 
Hospitis  adventus,  prsesens  sitis  aufcque  futura, 
Aut  vini  bonitas,  aut  qujelibet  altera  causa." 

f     Alison,  "Hist,  of  Europe,"  vol.  m,  ].  114.  Edit.  1847. 
8 


170  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

ted  all  the  graces  of  her  own  sex  to  all  the  virtues  of  ours." 
He  speaks  of  her  daughters,  of  whom  I  have  not  elsewhere 
heard,  as  having  the  generosity,  and  wearing  the  dress  of  Ama- 
zons. She,  herself  the  descendant  of  Cleopatra,  he  says,  inher- 
ited the  beauty,  the  wit  and  the  magnificence  of  that  celebrated 
queen.  She  had,  besides,  other  virtues  of  her  own,  being 
chaste  and  magnanimous,  eloquent  and  acute.  Her  beauty, 
says  the  gallant  priest,  was  a  beauty  majestic  and  military,  a 
beauty  of  command  and  of  action.  Her  heroic  figure,  he 
goes  on  to  say,  her  assured  countenance,  her  haughty  and  har- 
dy grace,  her  eyes  brilliant  and  full  of  fire,  and  all  her  exterior 
was  like  that  which  painters  have  given  to  virtue  and  victory. 
Her  body,  so  perfect,  was  inhabited  by  a  mind  yet  more  per- 
fect ;  like  a  fins  intelligence  in  a  fair  star.  The  Roman  his- 
torians, who  for  state  reasons  have  blackened  the  reputation  of 
Cleopatra  more  than  the  sun  of  Egypt  had  blackened  her  face, 
have  not  touched  the  honour  of  her  descendant.  She  was 
more  chaste,  he  adds,  in  marriage,  than  their  vestal  were  in 
their  virginity  ;  and  when  Odenathus  was  taken  from  her,  she 
still  remained  married  to  his  name  and  memory. 

After  a  very  long  and  flowery  eulogium  on  Zenobia,  from 
which  what  I  have  here  given  are  mere  pickings,  the  good 
father  concludes  the  whole  by  dealing  with  Zenobia  as  honest 
Launcelot  Gobbo  does  with  the  Jew's  daughter.  "  I  was  always 
plain  with  you,"  says  Launcelot,  "  and  so  now  I  speak  my 
agitation  of  the  matter;  therefore  be  of  good  cheer,  for  truly 
I  think  you  are  damned."  So  Father  le  Moyne  tells  us  that 
with  all  her  virtues,.  Zenobia  is  now  in  hell  in  the  midst  of  ever- 
lasting torments.  The  following  piece  of  raving  is  what  he 
calls  the  reflexion  morale  on  her  case. 

"  It  is  a  pity  that  a  generosity  so  high,  a  constancy  so  he- 
roic, a  chastity  so  invincible,  graces  so  modest,  so  many 
virtues  of  peace  and  war  are  damned ;  and  that  Zenobia  the 
brave,  the  temperate  and   the  chaste,  has  certainly  as  bad  an 


ZENOBIA.  171 

eternity  as  Messalina  the  dissolute  and  debauched.  The  pagan 
virtues,  whatever  beauty  they  may  have,  or  however  adorned 
they  may  be,  are  but  foolish  virgins.  The  heavenly  bride- 
groom knows  them  not,  and  whatever  importunity  they  may 
make,  the  gates  of  his  palace  will  never  be  opened  to  them. 
The  chastity,  the  temperance,  the  modesty,  the  fidelity  which 
will  not  go  to  him  with  the  lamp  burning,  and  shall  not  be 
presented  to  him  by  faith  and  by  charity,  shall  not  be  at  his 
marriage.  And  if  there  be  no  place  there  for  temperate  and 
modest  pagan  women,  who  shall  not  have  been  warned  to  pre- 
pare their  lamps  and  to  follow  the  guides  that  are  agreeable  to 
the  bridegroom,  what  will  become  of  the  licentious  and  disor- 
derly Christian  women,  who  shall  have  broken  their  lamps  and 
despised  and  rejected  their  guides  ?  Certainly  if  it  is  writ- 
en  that  repentant  Nineveh  shall  comdemn  Jerusalem  the  in- 
corrigible, it  is  much  to  be  feared  that  the  great  Zenobia,  and 
other  virtuous  pagan  women  will  rise  at  the  general  judgment 
and  bear  testimony  against  our  ladies  who  refute  their  belief 
by  their  lives ;  who  reprove  by  their  softness  and  their  luxury 
the  power  of  Christianity  and  the  austerity  of  the  Gospel ; 
who  love  better  to  lose  eternal  crowns  than  to  part  with  the 
little  half-withered  flowers  which  only  infect  them  with  their 
bad  odour,  and  sting  them  with  their  prickles." 

The  edition  of  Le  Moyne's  work  from  which  I  have  made 
these  extracts,  contains  a  portrait  of  Zenobia  in  full  armour  ; 
her  helmet  plumed,  a  rich  necklace  plaited  across  her  breast, 
and  a  hunting  spear  in  her  hand  ;  while  in  the  background  she 
is  represented  on  horseback  engaged  in  combat  with  a  lion. 
She  did  not,  says  Father  le  Moyne,  u  chase  the  swans  which 
are  harmonious  and  loveable,  and  only  armed  with  plumes,  nor 
the  bees  which  carry  honey  about  them,  and  respect  innocent 
persons  and  virgins." 

Pollio  tells  us  that  Zenobia  shared  with  her  husband  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  lion,  the  leopard,  the  bear  and  other  wild  beasts. 


172  CLASSIC    AND    HISTOIUC    TOIITRAITS. 

The  courage  of  Zenobia  deserted  her  when  she  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Romans.  She  became  afraid  of  death,  and 
charged  her  guilt  in  resisting  the  power  of  Aurelian  on  the  bad 
advice  of  her  friends.  Her  secretary,  the  celebrated  Longinus, 
was  amongst  those  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  unworthy  means 
which  she  adopted  to  save  her  life.  Aurelian  treated  her  as 
Octavius  intended  to  treat  Cleopatra.  After  the  barbarous 
Roman  fashion,  she  was  led  in  triumph  by  Aurelian  in  his  pro- 
cession, covered  wTith  ornaments,  which  only  made  her  humilia- 
tion more  conspicuous.  She  was  adorned  with  gems  of  such 
size  as  to  be  a  burden  to  carry ;  and  it  is  a  picturesque  and 
affecting  circumstance  mentioned  by  Pollio,  that  she  very  often 
stopped  on  the  way  declaring  that  she  could  not  bear  the 
weight  with  which  she  was  loaded.  Her  hands  and  her  feet 
were  bound  with  gold ;  and  a  large  golden  chain  was  placed 
round  her  neck  and  carried  before  her  by  one  of  her  Persian 
attendants.  It  is  spoken  of  as  an  act  of  clemency  that  the  em- 
peror permitted  her  to  live,  and  gave  her  a  possession  near 
the  palace  of  Adrian, which  was  afterwards  called  by  her  name, 
and  where  she  lived  in  the  style  of  a  Roman  matron. 

Upon  the  means  adopted  by  Zenobia,  with  a  view  to  save 
her  life,  Gibbon,  as  I  have  already  noticed,  has  made  a  remark, 
which  is  the  reverse  of  being  well-founded.  u  As  female  for- 
titude," he  is  pleased  to  say,  "  is  commonly  artificial,  so  it  is 
seldom  steady  and  consistent."  He  would  have  been  speak- 
ing according  to  facts,  if  he  had  said  that  while  the  fortitude 
of  men  is  often  artificial,  blustering  and  shallow,  and  incapable 
of  confronting  adversity,  that  of  women  is  commonly  natural, 
calm  and  consistent,  and  acquires  strength  and  cheerfulness 
amidst  trials  and  sufferings. 

The  case  of  a  woman  exposing  the  lives  of  others  to  dan- 
ger in  order  to  save  her  own,  is  very  uncommon ;  with  men  it 
has  been  so  usual,  that  it  is  only  the  exceptions  which  have  been 
considered  worthy  of  record.     Hence  it  is  that  the  terror  of 


ZENOBIA.  173 

Zenobia  has  been  so  much  noticed.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
her  conduct  was  unworthy  of  a  woman,  and  the  blot  on  her 
memory  is  that  she  unhappily  followed  the  example  of  many 
men  before  her,  rather  than  the  lessons  which  she  might  have 
learned  from  her  own  sex. 

When  the  first  conspiracy  against  Nero  was  discovered,  the 
woman  Epicharis,  who  knew  of  the  whole  contrivance,  persist- 
ed, under  the  torture,  in  refusing  to  answer  any  questions  that 
might  involve  the  safety  of  any  of  her  accomplices.  And  when 
all  Nero's  senators,  and  all  the  men  around  him,  including,  it 
is  to  be  feared,  the  philosopher  Seneca,  joined  either  passively 
or  actively,  in  the  accusations  raised  against  Octavia,  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  emperor,  when  he  became  desirous  of  getting 
rid  of  her,  for  the  sake  of  Sabina,  her  maid-servant  Pythias 
alone  refused,  for  court-favour,  to  deny  or  even  conceal  the 
truth,  and  under  the  severest  tortures  still  asserted  the  perfect 
purity  of  her  mistress  ;*  rendering  to  an  oppressed  woman  the 
greatest  and  noblest  service  which  can  be  rendered  to  those 
who  cannot  be  delivered  from  death  ;  for  posterity  accepts  the 
evidence  of  this  solitary  witness,  and  rejects  the  whole  opposite 
testimony  which  terror  and  bribery  were  able  to  procure 
against  Octavia. 

Nay,  the  sentiment  of  heroic  endurance  which  sustains 
woman  under  the  most  terrible  sufferings  so  much  more  than 
it  does  men,  is  not  confined  to  those  who  have  been  trained  to 
fortitude  by  a  life  of  virtue.  Anne  Boleyn  and  Mary  Queen 
of  Scots  died  as  calmly  as  did  Lady  Jane  Grey  or  Marie  An- 
toinette ;  and  ancient  history  records  that  Leaina,  a  courtezan 
of  Athens,  engaged  in  the  famous  conspiracy  of  Harmodius 
Aristogiton  endured  with  courage  and  joy  the  most  exquisite 
tortures,  rather  than  reveal  what  she  knew  of  the  plot. 

*  Dion,  "  Hist."  lib.  lxii.  p.  707. 


JULIAN   THE   APOSTATE. 


We  may  become  familiarly  acquainted  with  Julian  the 
Apostate  from  various  sources,  but  particulary  from  the  ad- 
mirable narrative  of  his  officer,  Ammianus  Marcellinus.  Ho 
was  of  middle  stature;  mediocris  statures  is  the  expression  of 
Ammianus,  his  friend,  and  I  must  adhere  to  it.  Julian,  it  may 
be  remarked,  has  been  called  a  little  man,  and  the  people  of 
Antioch  ridiculed  him  as  a  short  man  (homo  brevis.)  Ammi- 
anus also  tells  us  that  when  all  Constantinople  turned  out  to 
see  the  new  emperor,  the  hero  of  so  many  victories,  the  peo- 
ple were  surprised  at  his  youth,  and  his  small  person  (adultum 
juvene?n,  exiguo  corpore.)* 

All  this,  however,  is,  I  think,  quite  consistent  with  the 
belief,  which  I  do  not  doubt  is  the  true  one,  that  Julian  was 
just  as  Ammianus  says,  of  middle  stature.  The  satirical 
humor  of  the  Antiochians  would  not  stick  closely  to  dry  facts  ; 
and  the  mob  of  Constantinople  would  expect  their  heroic  sov- 
ereign to  be  a  man  of  gigantic  stature,  as  all  ideal  warriors 
are  in  popular  belief. 

The  hair  on  Julian's  head  was  soft,  as  if  he  had  carefully 
combed  it ;   his  beard  was  shaggy,  ending  in  a  point.     As  in 

*  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  lib.  xxn.  c.  2.  sec.  5. 

(174) 


JULIAN    THE    APOSTATE.  175 

his  mind,  Julian,  in  some  respects,  bore  a  likeness,  though  with 
a  marked  inferiority  in  point  of  intellect,  to  the  most  illus- 
trious of  the  emperors,  so  in  his  face  there  were  two  features  in 
which  he  resembled  Caesar.  He  had,  like  Caesar,  the  beauti- 
ful bright  eyes  which  expressed  every  emotion  of  the  mind  ; 
like  Caesar  also,  his  mouth  was  rather  large.  His  eyebrows 
were  fine ;  his  lower  lip  fell  down  a  little.  He  had  a  very 
straight  neck,  somewhat  bent ;  and  large  and  broad  shoulders. 
From  his  head,  says  the  historian,  to  the  very  tips  of  his  nails, 
there  was  a  proportion  in  all  his  parts ;  and  he  excelled  in 
strength  and  swiftness.* 

I  ought  to  add,  that  in  the  view  of  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen, 
Julian's  shoulders  were  continually  in  motion,  his  eyes  wild 
and  wandering,  his  walk  irregular,  his  head  always  moving  this 
way  or  that  way. 

One  of  the  coins  of  Julian  represents  him  without  a  beard 
as  he  was  at  the  period  when  he  outwardly  professed  Christi- 
anity. In  the  coins  on  which  he  has  the  imperial  title  of  "  Au- 
gustus," he  has  the  rough,  shaggy  beard  attributed  to  him. 
On  his  head  is  a  fillet,  sometimes  highly  ornamented,  apparent- 
ly formed  of  strings  of  beads.  Ammianus  gives  an  amusing  ac- 
count of  his  coronation  when  the  soldiers  raised  him  on  their 
shields,  and  saluted  him  as  Emperor. 

He  was  beseeched  to  assume  the  diadem  ;  he  said  he  had 
no  such  thing  about  him .  The  soldiers  said  that'  his  wife's 
necklace,  or  an  ornament  from  her  head-dress  wTould  do. 
Julian  objected,  that  he  thought  at  the  outset  of  his  reign  to 
wear  a  woman's  toy  would  be  a  bad  omen.  The  soldiers 
were  then  about  to  make  a  coronet  out  of  part  of  a  horse's 
trappings,  but  this  also  Julian  resisted.  The  dispute  was  put 
an  end  to  by  one  of  his  officers,  whose  name,  Maurus,  has  been 
preserved,  who  took  the  collar  which  he  wore  as  the  badge 

*  Ammianus,  lib.  xxv,  c.  4,  sec.  22. 


176  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

of  his  rank,  and  placed  it  on  the  head  of  the  general,  who  ac- 
cepted the  throne,  and  distributed  the  usual  presents.* 

Julian's  rough  beard  subjected  him  to  ridicule  at  various 
times.  I  am  afraid  that  it  was  the  affectation  of  looking  like 
a  philosopher  that  led  Julian  to  cultivate  his  beard.  From 
Julius,  who  was  always  shaved,  to  Julian,  none  of  the  emperors, 
with  the  exception  of  Adrian  had  worn  a  beard.  The  Greek 
emperors  after  Justinian,  who  was  smoothly  shaved,  wore 
their  beards  long.  Amongst  the  Romans,  it  is  'said,  the  fashion 
of  shaving  daily  having  been  introduced  by  the  great  Scipio 
whom  Csesar  perhaps  wished  to  imitate  in  this — while  the  ex- 
ample of  Caesar  would  stamp  the  fashion  as  imperial.  The 
flatterers  of  the  weak  and  mean  Constautius  at  the  time  that 
they  did  not  foresee  Julian's  elevation  to  the  throne  jeered  at 
his  person  and  habits.  They  called  him  a  goat,  and  the 
shaggy  Julian,  a  talking  mole  {loquacem  talpam  is  the  expres- 
sion in  Ammianus,)  an  ape  in  purple,  and  a  Greek  literary 
puppy  {litterio  Grcecus.) 

On  his  visit  to  the  Christian  city  of  Antioch,  the  people 
sung  songs  in  derision  of  his  character  and  religion,  and  did 
not  forget  to  deride  his  beard.  They  called  him  a  little  man 
stretching  out  his  shoulders,  and  carrying  his  goat's  beard 
before  him,  and  walking  big  like  a  man  of  stature.  He  was 
also  called  the  priest's  assistant  {viclimarius),  in  allusion  to 
his  numerous  sacrifices,  and  his  carrying  the  sacrificial  things 
in  the  processions,  surrounded  by  a  troop  of  women. 

Julian  felt  these  attacks,  but  suppressed  his  anger,  and  re- 
venged  himself  not  like  an  emperor  or  a  soldier,  but  like  a 
philosopher,  or — if  it  might  be  so  said  of  the  champion  of 
fallen  paganism — like  a  Christian,  by  writing  in  reply  to 
his  libellers  the  piece  called  "  Misopogon,"  in  which  he  apolo- 
gised for  his  own  peculiarities,  and  satirised    the  vices  of  the 

*  Ammianus,  xxv,  c,  1.  sec.  22,     ' 


JULIAN    THE    APOSTATE.  177 

people  of  Antioch  ;  and  this  reply  he  caused  to  be  affixed  to 
the  gates  of  their  dissolute  capital. 

With  all  his  great  virtues,  the  pedantry  and  affectation  of 
Julian  furnished  fair  materials  for  satire.  What  of  his  habits 
has  been  passed  over  in  silence  by  Ammianus,  his  own  osten- 
tation has  supplied.  He  had  the  vanity  to  distinguish  himself 
not  merely  by  the  simplicity  of  his  habits  but  by  his  filthiness. 
We  learn  from  himself  that  he  was  almost  wholly  covered 
with  hair.  His  beard  was  not  merely  shaggy  but,  to  use  the 
genteel  expression  of  Gibbon,  it  was  also  "  populous."  Fanat- 
icism produces  similar  results  in  all  ages  and  countries,  and 
under  every  varying  form  of  faith.  Many  Christian  saints 
have  believed  that  God  takes  delight  in  all  manner  of  filthiness ; 
and  Cardinal  Bellarmier,  undoubtedly  a  good  man,  had  the 
same  passion  for  the  comfort  and  nourishment  of  small 
vermin  as  Julian  had. 

In  that  portion  of  the  very  critical  review  of  Julian's  char- 
acter which  Ammianus  devotes  to  the  enumeration  of  his  de- 
fects, we  are  told,  amongst  other  points  well  known  to  hi3  de- 
tractors and  his  friends,  that  his  tongue  was  too  loose,  and 
rarely  silent ;  and  that  his  greed  of  approbation  made  him 
keep  company  with  unworthy  persons. 

Julian  in  his  early  days  had  devoted  some  attention  to  the 
study  of  music.  He  was  also  taught  the  Pyrrhic  dance,  a 
military  movement  to  the  sound  of  flutes,  but  seems  to  have 
thought  this  exercise  unworthy  of  him. 

In  his  diet  Julian,  we  are  told  by  Ammianus,  was  as  ab- 
stemious as  if  his  food  had  been  regulated  by  the  sumptuary 
laws  of  Lycurgus.  He  rejected  the  pheasants  and  other  de- 
licacies prepared  for  him,  and  contented  himself  with  the  meals 
of  the  common  soldiers ;  and  he  would  eat  his  hasty  and 
coarse  fare,  standing  after  the  military  fashion.  The  scantiness 
and  weakness  of  his  food  astonished  his  friends.  From  other 
sources  we  learn  that  Julian  was  almost  a  vegetarian,  being 
8* 


178  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

one  of  those  who  fancy  that  a  vegetable  diet  preserves  the 
health  both  of  the  body  and  of  the  mind.  To  Julian's  diet 
producing  its  usual  effects  on  his  head  and  stomach,  we  may 
attribute  his  belief  that  he  held  personal  conferences  with  the 
gods  and  goddesses  of  his  faith.  His  religion  was  of  a 
gloomy  nature,  and  not  that  rich  and  cheerful  "  prodigality  of 
faith"  which  was  the  character  of  Grecian  paganism  in  its 
palmy  days.  His  melancholy  vision  of  the  genius  of  Rome 
leaving  his  tents  may  be  ascribed  to  his  dyspeptic  supper. 
He  had  been  feeding  on  pulse,  the  diet  of  ancient  Rome  in  the 
days  of  its  simplicity.* 

Ammianus  admits  that  the  religion  of  Julian  was  mingled 
with  superstition ;  and  the  heathens,  while  they  loved  him, 
ridiculed  his  numerous  and  expensive  sacrifices  and  observances. 
As  a  Platonist,  Julian  believed  in  the  transmigration  of  souls. 
The  ecclesiastical  writer,  Socrates,  tells  us,  and  on  this  point 
I  do  not  see  that  there  is  any  occasion  to  reject  his  testimony, 
that  Julian  believed  that  the  soul  of  Alexander  the  Great 
inhabited  his  body  ;  that  he  was,  indeed,  Alexander  in  the  per- 
son of  Julian.f  Basilina,  his  mother,  when  about  to  be  brought 
to  bed  dreamed  that  she  was  delivered  of  Achilles,  and  after 
waking,  and  while  she  was  relating  her  dream  to  her  attendants, 
she  brought  Julian  into  the  world. 

After  the  ancient  fashion  Julian  sought  to  learn  the  secrets 
of  the  future  by  inspecting  the  entrails  of  beasts.  The  Chris- 
tian writers  accuse  him  of  using  human  sacrifices  at  the  cele- 
bration of  his  nocturnal  rites.  At  Carrse,  in  the  temple  of 
the  moon,  there  was  found,  it  is  said,  after  his  death,  the  body 
of  a  woman  hung  up  by  the  hair,  with  the  arms  extended,  and 
the  belly  opened.  Julian  is  also  charged  with  having  killed  a 
great  number  of  children  in  the  performance  of  magical  eere- 
monies.    Theodoret  and  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen  are  the  author- 

*  Ammianus,  lib.  xxv,  c.  11,  sec.  2. 

t  Socrates,  "  Hist.  Eccles."  lib.  m,  c.  21.  Paris,  1668. 


JULIAN    THE    APOSTATE.  179 

ities  for  these  stories,  and  their  testimony  wants  confirmation. 
A  story  is  told  by  the  monk  Zonaras,  which  has  more  than  one 
parallel  in  history.  It  is  said  that  a  youth  with  yellow  ha;r 
appeared  to  Julian  in  a  dream,  while  he  was  at  Antioch,  and 
told  him  he  would  die  in  Phrygia.*  The  spot  where  he  was 
killed,  it  appears,  bore  that  name ;  but  Julian  was  misled  by 
believing  the  prediction  to  refer  to  the  large  country  of 
Phrygia. 

Julian  divided  his  time  into  three  parts  ;  devoted  to  study, 
business,  and  rest.  He  could,  whenever  he  wished,  awake 
from  sleep,  an  unhappy  gift,  the  fruit,  most  probably,  of 
his  spare  vegetable  diet.  He  rose,  says  Ammianus,  in  the 
middle  of  the  night,  not  from  downy  plumes  or  silken  beds 
shining  with  ambiguous  lustre,!  but  from  a  rough  carpet.  He 
then  prayed  silently  to  Mercury,  and  next  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  public  business,  and  afterwards  to  the  study  of  philoso- 
phy, rhetoric,  and  history.  The  labor  of  war  occupied  his 
days.  In  every  respect  he  mortified  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  like 
an  anchoret.  He  was  always  "warring  either  against  the 
Persians  or  his  own  vices,"  is  the  beautiful  eulogium  of  a 
heathen  writer. 

The  best  and  most  complete  character  of  Julian  is  to  be 
found  in  Motaigne's  "  Essay  on  Liberty  of  Conscience."  It  is 
no  discredit  to  Julian  to  have  been  assailed  by  every  kind  of 
calumny  by  writers  who  praise  the  character  of  such  men  as 
Constantine  and  Constantius. 

*  Joa.  Zonaraj  Monaclii  Annales,  lib.  n,  p.  28.  Paris,  1687, 
f  "  Non  e  plumis  vel  stragulis  sericis,  ambiguo  fulgore  nitentes,"  says 
Ammianus.     Is  this  changing  color  silk  ? 


EUDOCIA 


The  Empress  Eudocia,  the  queen  of  Theodosius  the  young- 
er, was,  while  a  heathen,  called  Athenais,  and  wTas  the  daughter 
of  Leontius,  a  philosopher  of  Athens.  "  The  writer  of  a 
romance,"  says  Gibbon,  "would  not  have  imagined  that  Atlie- 
.nais  was  nearly  twenty-eight  years  old  when  she  ennamed  the 
heart  of  a  young  emperor."  Having  been  ill-used  by  her  bro- 
thers, Athenais  fled  to  Constantinople,  where  she  was  intro- 
duced to  Theodosius  by  his  sister  Pulcheria,  who  had  previous- 
ly given  a  glowing  description  of  the  charms  of  the  fair 
refugee. 

In  Gibbon's  account  of  Athenais,  the  physical  and  the  senti- 
mental are  blended  together  in  that  writer's  very  best  style. 
"  She  had,"  he  says,  "  large  eyes,  a  well-proportioned  nose, 
a  fair  complexion,  golden  locks,  a  slender  person,  a  graceful 
demeanor,  an  understanding  improved  by  study,  and  a  virtue 
tried  by  distress." 

Theodosius,  who  was  first  permitted  to  behold  this  rare 
beauty  from  behind  a  curtain,  where  he  had  been  concealed  by 
Pulcheria,  immediately  fell  in  love  with  her,  and  made  her  his 
queen.  She,  on  her  part,  forsook  the  pagan  faith,  and  at  her 
baptism  assumed  the  pleasant  Christian  name  of  Eudocia. 
The  Christian  empress    delighted  in    elegance  and  splendor, 

(180) 


EUDOCIA.  181 

loved  gems  and  gold,  and  had  a  taste  for  literature  and  art 
after  the  corrupted  fashion  of  her  age.  She  is  the  reputed 
author  of  a  cento  from  the  verses  of  Homer,  adapted  to  the  life 
of  Christ,  which  is  still  extant.  She  converted  several  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  into  hexameter  verse,  and  wrote  the 
"  Legend  of  St.  Cyprian,"  and  a  "  Panegyric  on  the  Persian 
Victories  of  Theodosius."  The  composition  of  a  cento  is  a 
sufficient  proof  of  the  depravity  of  the  empress's  taste,  which, 
however,  would  be  much  admired  in  her  own  day ;  and  the 
turning  of  the  Old  Testament  into  hexameters  was  certainly  a 
sad  waste  of  time. 

The  empress  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  for  piety.  Her 
habits  of  devotion,  however,  did  not  save  her  good  name  from 
the  whisperings  of  scandal.  The  emperor  became  jealous  of 
her,  and  banished  her  to  Jerusalem,  where  she  died  after  an 
exile  of  sixteen  years,  spent  in  religious  exercises.  The  emper- 
or's favorite  eunuch  raised  the  calumny.  Eudocia  was  charg- 
ed with  an  amour  with  Paulinus,  the  master  of  the  horse, 
whose  comeliness  is  celebrated  by  the  writers  of  the  time.  The 
evidence  of  her  guilt  was  that  Paulinus  had  brought  to  the 
emperor  some  apples  which  Theodosius  himself  had  given  to 
Eudocia.  Gibbon  doubts  the  truth  of  even  the  story  being 
alleged.  If  it  were  true,  there  is  certainly  good  ground  for 
believing  that  a  plot  had  been  laid,  such  as  in  romances  we 
often  find  quite  effectual  for  the  ruin  of  a  virtuous  woman. 

The  reader,  as  Gibbon  remarks,  is  reminded  of  the  tale  in 
the  "  Arabian  Nights'  Entertainment,"  of  the  young  man  who 
kills  his  wife  in  a  fit  of  jealousy,  arising  from  her  having  given 
away,  as  he  supposes,  one  of  the  three  apples  which  he  had 
bought  for  her  in  the  caliph's  garden  at  Balsora.  Shakes- 
pere's  "  Othello"  has  done  great  good  in  discouraging,  through 
the  case  of  the  handkerchief,  all  belief  in  this  kind  of  circum- 
stantial evidence. 

Id  reading  the  story  of  Eudocia,  as  well  as  the  Arabian  tale, 


182  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

it  should  be  recollected  that,  in  the  emblematic  language  of  the 
East,  the  ripe  apple  signifies  requited  love.  "  Comfort  me  with 
apples,"  says  the  bride  in  the  Canticles,  "  for  I  am  sick  of  love." 
In  some  ancient  paintings,  Venus  was  represented  with  a  ripe 
apple  in  her  hand.  From  Catullus,  we  learn  that  it  was  the 
custom  for  the  fair  one  who  had  secretly  received  an  apple  from 
her  lover,  to  conceal  it  in  her  bosom.*  In  one  of  the  Love  Epis- 
tles of  Aristsenetus,  a  writer  living  perhaps  near  to  the  time  of 
Eudocia,  the  lover  is  represented  as  inscribing  a  declaration  on 
the  apple  which  he  throws  in  the  way  of  his  mistress,  t  In 
another  of  these  love  letters,  the  lover  throws  an  apple  into  the 
bosom  of  the  woman  with  whom  he  is  in  love,  which  she 
receives  and  kisses,  and  hides  in  her  girdle.^ 

*  Catullus,  "  Carm,"'  lib.  xv,  Ad  Ortalum. 

t  Aristaanetus,  "Epist."  lib.  t,  Ep.  x.  4 

%  Aristaenetus,  "Epist."  lib.  i,Ep.  xxv. 


THEODOKA. 


The  Empress  Theodora,  the  profligate  wife  of  Justinian, 
was,  as  her  mother  and  her  sisters  Comitona  and  Anastasia 
were,  extremely  beautiful.  Yet  her  beauty  was  not  of  that 
kind  which  has  sometimes  been  possessed  by  licentious  women 
which  simulates  modesty ;  for  Procopius,  using  a  remark  which 
has  been  attributed  to  many  others  since  his  time,  tells  us  that 
she  carried  indecency  in  her  very  face.  It  should  be  noticed 
that  she  and  her  sisters  were  deliberately  and  studiously 
brought  up  to  wickedness  by  their  mother.  Each  of  them,  as 
she  grew  up,  was  sent  to  the  stage  of  Constantinople.  When 
Comitona,  the  eldest,  came  out,  Theodora,  then  a  mere  girl, 
appeared  as  her  attendant,  wearing  the  long  sleeves  which 
marked  the  dress  of  a  servant,  and  carrying  the  seat  on  which 
her  sister  sat.  Theodora  followed  the  career  of  Comitona,  and 
her  beauty  soon  attracted  admiration.  Her  face,  such  as  it  is 
described  to  have  been,  was  reckoned  fine ;  her  complexion 
was  moderately  pale;  her  eyes  were  brilliant,  and  glanced 
hither  and  thither.  Her  stature  was  short;  but  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  her  figure  was  such,  we  are  told,  as  could  not  be 
expressed  by  human  art  or  declared  by  speech  ;  the  statue  erec- 
ted of  her  by  the  Byzantines  failing  entirely,  as  Procopius  says, 
to  do  justice  to  the  charms  of  her  person. 

(183) 


CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS.  184 

Theodora  as  empress  loaded  herself  with  jewels  after  the 
fashion  of  Constantinople,  that  fashion  so  repeatedly  inveighed 
against  by  St.  John  Chrysostom  in  his  discourses ;  and  a  figure 
of  her  in  long  robes,  with  strings  of  large  pearls  on  her  head, 
neck  and  shoulders,  lias  been  engraved  from  a  mosaic  made  of 
her  in  her  time  at  Eavenna.# 

Beyond  her  talents  as  a  comic  actress — a  sort  of  Columbine 
— Theodora  is  not  represented  as  having  any  of  the  accomplish- 
ments of  her  times,  and  it  is  expressly  mentioned  by  Procopius 
that  she  could  neither  sing,  nor  play  on  an  instrument,  nor 
dance.  She  wTas  thus  deprived  of  some  of  the  most  powerful 
weapons  for  attacking  the  human  heart.  Justinian,  her  devout 
and  theological  husband,  must  have  been  one  of  those  men 
whom  the  grossest  indecency  attracts  instead  of  repelling. 
The  law  which  forbade  the  marriage  of  a  patrician  with  a 
woman  who  had  been  on  the  stage  was  expressly  and  solemnly 
repealed  in  favor  of  the  most  abandoned  of  stage  performers — 
of  her  whom  the  historian  calls  "  of  all  bad  women  that  ever 
lived  by  far  the  most  celebrated," — who  practised  arts  u  which 
he  who  wishes  God  to  be  merciful  to  him  may  not  even  men- 
tion." Justinian,  adds  Procopius,  took  for  his  own  "  the  com- 
mon disgrace  of  ah  mortals."  The  emperor  multiplied  statues 
of  her  throughout  the  provinces.  He  also  called  cities,  towns, 
forts,  and  public  baths  afer  her  name.f 

It  has  been  said  that  the  crimes  of  the  Tiberiuses,  Caligulas, 
and  Neros  could  not  have  been  perpetrated  by  Christians.  If 
the  parallels  to  these  monsters  are  not  easily  to  be  found 
amongst  the  emperors  after  Constantine,  heathen  Rome  has 
no  female  parallel  to  Theodora;  for  Messalina  herself,  with 
all  her  infamy  embalmed  in  the  terrible  verses  of  Juvenal, 
gains  something  of  character  when  her  guilt  is  compared  with 
*  See  Procopius,  "  Anecdota"  (Fig.  5  )  Lipshe,  1827. 
+  See  Alemanni,  "  Annotationes  Historicae,"  Procopius,  p  361,  where 
a  list  of  places  called  after  Theodora  is  given 


THEODORA.  185 

the  horrible  brutalities  which,  after  all  the  deductions  that  can 
be  made,  we  are  compelled  to  believe  of  "  the  highly-to-be-re- 
vered Theodora,  given  by  G-od  to  Justinian,"  as  the  loving 
emperor  called  her. 

Human  faith  is  staggered  at  the  record  of  her  impurities, 
and  might  doubt  if  the  Roman  senator  who  has  told  so  much 
and  yet  professes  to  have  left  more  and  worse  actions  unre- 
corded, had  not  been  over-credulous  of  an  infamy  than  which 
the  deceased  imagination  of  a  romancer,  revelling  in  ideal  wick- 
edness and  painting  a  lascivious  fiend,  could  have  conceived 
nothing  more  horrible.  But  though  we  should  withhold  our 
belief  from  the  anecdotes  of  Theodora  in  her  palace,  we  are 
compelled  to  give  credit  to  Procopius,  her  contemporary,  when 
he  relates  what  she  did  on  the  open  stage  of  Byzantium.  That 
stage  must  have  made  rapid  progress  in  shamelessness  since 
the  time  of  Chrysostom ;  for  though  in  his  discourses  he  has 
more  than  one  allusion  to  the  unbecoming  sights  to  be  seen 
there,*  he  has  no  description  of  anything  like  what  is  described 
by  Procopius. 

-The  same  reason  which  has  led  me  merely  to  allude  to  the 
ample  record  of  the  habits  of  Tiberius,  compels  me  to  adopt 
a  similar  method  with  Theodora,  and  to  pass  over  wholly  un- 
touched the  picture  of  Antonina,  the  wife  of  Belisarius,  the 
companion  in  wickedness  of  the  empress. 

Of  such  a  woman  as  Theodora  it  may  be  censurable  even 
to  hint  that  one  good  thing  can  be  said.  I  do  not  know 
whether  it  be  to  her  credit,  or  otherwise,  that  after  she  be- 
came empress  she  did  not  forget  her  old  stage  companions, 
but  kept  with  her  Chrysomalla  and  Indara,  who  had  been 
dancers  when  Theodora  was  the  comic  actress.  The  empress 
also  was  the  foundress  of  one  of  those  asylums — the  earliest 

*  See  Chrysostom,  Opera,  lib.  vn.  p.  113  ;  and  lib.  xi.  p.  464  Paris, 
1718. 


186  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

noticed  in  history — which  in  modern  days  are  called  by  the 
beautiful  and  tender  name  of  Magdalen  Institutions. 

I  am  sure,  however,  that  she  deserves  some  credit  for  having 
employed  her  influence  with  her  orthodox  and  persecuting 
husband  to  procure  a  relaxation  of  the  severities  exercised 
against  heretics.  Her  own  faith,  it  should  be  admitted,  was 
not  quite  orthodox.  The  clergy,  who  in  all  ages  have  been  in 
the  habit  of  studiously  disobeying  the  prohibition  of  the  Sa- 
viour against  presuming  to  point  to  the  sins  of  individuals  as 
the  cause  of  the  afflictions  with  which  Heaven  may  be  pleased 
to  visit  them,  regarded  the  malady  of  which  Theodora  died — 
a  cancerous  sore  covering  all  that  fair  body  which  had  raised 
her  to  the  throne  of  the  greatest  empire  in  the  world — as  the 
result  of  the  divine  vengeance,  not  on  her  impure  life,  but  on 
her  want  of  a  perfectly  accurate  belief  in  the  Athanasian 
Creed.  Had  she  in  all  matters  of  faith  been  what  the  trium- 
phant religious  party  would  have  had  her  to  be,  it  is  not  un- 
likely that  they  would  have  done  something  to  save  her 
memory  from  the  execration  of  posterity  by  obliterating  the 
record  of  her  crimes. 

Of  the  innocent  arts  which  Theodora  used  to  heighten  the 
effect  of  her  beauty,  something  may  lawfully  be  said.  From 
her  system  of  living,  as  detailed  by  Procopius,  it  may  be  in- 
ferred that  in  her  time  stoutness  of  form,  for  which  the  By- 
zantines have  long  had  a  passion,  was  in  request;  for  her 
habits  were  exactly  such  as  are  prescribed  to  those  who  desire 
to  be  fat.  She  made  abundant  use  of  the  bath,  remaining  in 
it  long,  and  only  leaving  it  to  eat  and  to  rest  in  bed  during 
great  part  of  the  day  as  well  as  of  the  night.  At  table  she 
used  an  infinite  variety  of  meats  to  provoke  her  to  eat  plen- 
tifully.' 

"  The  sensual  Byzantines,"  says  M.  Chasles,  u  destroyed  the 
worship  of  beauty  and  proportion,  in  order  to  accord  to  stout- 


THEODORA.  187 

ness  that  preference  which  all  the  nations  of  the  East  have 
professed."*  The  tastes  of  Constantinopolitans  in  this  way  is 
sufficiently  established  by  a  variety  of  passages  in  the  writers 
of  the  Eastern  capital.  Chrysostom  feels  it  necessary  to  tell 
his  hearers  that  "  the  virtue  of  the  body  does  not  consist  in 
fatness,  nor  in  a  good  habit  of  person,  but  in  the  capacity  of 
bearing  torments."! 

In  a  passage  which  M.  Chasles  has  quoted,  the  same  father 
speaks  of  the  great  care  and  expense  which  the  ladies  took  to 
display  the  floating  folds  of  their  robes,  the  adornment  of  their 
hair,  and  the  roundness  of  their  figures.  I  doubt,  indeed,  if 
this  taste  has  not  been  in  most  countries  a  more  prevailing  one 
than  critics  on  statuary  are  willing  to  allow ;  and  if  the  mod- 
ern Americans  are  not  the  only  people  who  are  fairly  charg- 
able  with  a  decided  fancy  for  slenderness,  while  their  beauties 
have  been  severely  censured  by  good  judges  on  every  point 
except  their  feet,  of  which  the  German  traveller,  Grund,  anxi- 
ous to  praise  all  that  is  right  as  well  as  all  that  is  wrong  in 
America,  has  spoken  with  such  rapture.^ 

Stoutness  of  figure,  as  it  has  certainly  been  the  taste  of 
Asia  and  Africa,  has  not  escaped  admiration  in  Europe.  I 
have  met  with  few  commendations  of  slenderness  in  European 

*  Chasles,  "Etudes  sur  le  Moyen  Age,"  p.  113. 

f  St.  Chrysostom,  Opera,  lib.  i,  p.  724. 

%  "  There  is  one  perfection,"  says  Grund,  "  in  ladies,  sometimes  the  first 
to  attract  our  notice,  and  the  last  to  vanish  when  every  other  beauty  has 
faded  and  departed,  which  consists  in  delicate  feet  and  ankles.  The  idea 
is  taken  from  Goethe's  novel,  'Die  Wahlverwandschaften,'  and  would 
hardly  have  found  its  introduction  here,  were  I  not  backed  by  the  all- 
powerful  authority  of  the  immortal  poet,  who  at  the  same  time  was  the 
most  accomplished  artist.  Well,  then,  this  perfection  is  one  of  which  the 
American  ladies  can  certainly  boast,  and  which  they  possess  in  a  higher 
degree  than  the  French,  though  they  take  infinitely  less  pains  to  obtrude 
it  on  the  notice  of  strangers."— The  Americans,  by  Francis  J.  Grund. 
Vol.  i,  p.  37.     Lond.  1837. 


188  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

writers.     Chaucer  indeed  tells  us  of  Alison,  the  carpenter's 
wife,  that 

"  Fayre  was  this  young  wif,  and  therewithal 
As  any  weselhire  body  gent  and  small ;" 

On  the  other  hand,  in  a  great  variety  of  European  writers 
of  different  nations  and  ages,  the  embonpoint  enters  into  the 
description  of  a  beauty.  In  the  "  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles," 
it  almost  uniformly  forms  an  element  in  the  charming  women 
mentioned.  In  the  third  novel,  the  Miller's  wife  is  "  very 
beautiful  and  embonpoint?'1  In  the  twenty-first,  the  abbess  is 
described  as  "  beautiful  and  young  and  embonpoint?'1  It  is 
true  that  in  some  other  instances  in  these  tales,  the  expression 
embonpoint  is  evidently  taken  to  mean  °  well  made,"  generally 
speaking ;  but  this  only  makes  the  proof  stronger  that  stout- 
ness was  considered  to  be  handsomeness,  just  as  we  find  that 
the  Saxon  passion  for  fair  hair  and  fair  complexions  has  made 
the  English  word  "  fair"  a  synonyme  for  beauty. 

The  Queen  of  Navarre — who,  however,  borrows  much  of 
her  phraseology  from  the  "  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles" — speaks 
usually  in  the  same  way  of  her  beauties.  In  her  eighth  novel 
the  jealous  wife  asks  her  husband  if  it  is  the  beauty  and  em- 
bonpoint of  her  servant-maid  that  have  seduced  his  affec- 
tions from  her.  In  the  fifteenth  novel  the  wife  ridicules  the 
bad  taste  of  her  faithless  spouse  for  loving  a  lady  who  is  thin- 
ner and  less  beautiful  than  herself;  and  in  the  twenty-fifth, 
the  wife  of  the  advocate  of  Paris  is  described  as  "  very  beau- 
tiful in  the  face  and  complexion,  and  still  more  beautiful  for 
her  figure  and  her  embonpoint;'1''  (fort  belle  de  visage  et  du 
teint,  et  plus  belle  encore  pour  la  taille  et  pour  l'embonpoint.)* 

These  are  pictures  of  women  drawn  by  a  woman,  and  they 
show  that  the  pious  Queen  of  Navarre  concurred  in  that  taste 

*  "  Contes  et  Nouvelles,"  de  Marguerite  de  Valois,  torn  i,  p.  30G. 
Amst.  1698. 


THEODORA.  189 

which  I  believe  has  been  the  general  taste  in  France  to  the 
present  day.  It  was  distinctly  the  taste  of  Brantome,  and  his 
taste  was  undoubtedly  the  fashionable  taste  of  his  time.  Mon- 
taigne also  describes  the  arts  which  were  used  by  the  ladies 
in  his  day  to  give  themselves  a  false  appearance  of  stoutness. 
Some  years  later  we  have  the  same  taste  displayed  in  a  very 
minute  and  particular  portrait  of  a  female  beauty,  drawn  by 
one  who  was  herself  a  stout  beauty.  It  is  the  description  of 
Mademoiselle  de  Villene,  by  Madame  Deshoulieres.  I  give 
the  portrait  entire. 

"  Je  ne  puis  m'empecher  de  faire  la  peinture 
Du  plus  charmant  objet  qu'ait  forme  la  nature  : 
C'est  la  June  Phyllis  dont  les  divins  appas 
Se  sont  rendus  fameux  par  cent  mille  trepas. 
Je  connois  son  esprit,  sa  beaute,  son  merite 
Sa  taille  n'est  encore  ni  grande  ni  petite ; 
Elle  est  libre,  mignonne  et  pleine  d'agrement 
Toute  seule  elle  peut  faire  plus  d'un  amant. 
Ses  cheveux  sont  fort  noirs  ;  son  teint  n'est  pas  de  meme, 
II  est  vif,  delie  ;  sa  blancheur  est  extreme. 
Son  nez  n'est  pas  mal  fait.     Mais  que  ses  yeux  sont  beaux 
Qu'ils  sont  fins  !  qu'ils  sont  doux  !  et  qu lis  causent  de  maux  ! 
Ces  yeux  noirs  et  brilliants  ou  1' amour  pour  ses  armes 
Font  naitre  des  desirs  et  repandre  des  larmes. 
Tant  d'illustres  amants  que  Ton  voit  en  ces  lieux 
Sont,  chere  Amaryllis,  l'ouvrage  de  ces  yeux. 
Sa  bouche  est  dun  beau  tour ;  elle  est  vive  et  charmante 
Par  sa  forme  on  connait  qu'elle  est  tres  eloquente. 
Elle  a  je  ne  sais  quoi  qu'on  ne  peut  exprimer 
Qui  fait  qu'on  ne  peut  pas  s'empechere  de  l'aimer. 
Elle  a  de  belles  dents ;  le  tour  de  son  visage 
Est  si  beau,  qu'il  n'est  rien  qui  le-soitdavantage. 
Elle  a  de  l'embonpoint,  comme  il  en  faut  avoir ; 
Sa  gorge  est  blanche,  pleine :  et  Ton  ne  sauroit  voir 
En  toute  la  nature  une  gorge  plus  belle ; 
Et  ses  bras  et  ses  mains  sont  aussi  dignes  d'elle. 


190  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

La  fraicheur  de  son  teint,  et  sa  vivacite 

Pont  bieu  voir  que  Phyllis  a  beaucoup  de  sante. 

Elle  a  cet  air  gallant  qui  sait  plaire  et  qui  donne 

Un  charme  inexprimable  a  toute  sa  personne. 

Pour  fair  une  conquete  et  pour  la  conserver 

Elle  a  tout  ce  quilfaut ;  et  Ion  doit  avouer 

Que  sa  gorge,  ses  bras  et  sa  taille  admirable 

Sa  bouche  et  ses  beaux  yeux  n'ont  rien  de.comparable, 

Son  esprit  tout  divin  repond  a  son  beau  corps 

Le  ciel  en  la  faisant  epuisa  ses  tresors."* 

*  "  03uvres  de  Madame  et  de  Mademoiselle  Deshoulieres,"  torn  i,  p. 
Paris,  1821. 


CHARLEMAGNE. 


The  person  and  habits  of  the  Emperor  Charlemagne  have 
been  described  with  all  the  minuteness  desirable  by  his  secre- 
tary and  friend  Eginhart  *  He  was  large  and  strong  in  body, 
of  great  but  not  gigantic  stature,  measuring  seven  times  the 
length  of  his  foot.f  It  is  probable  that  the  emperors  foot 
was  a  very  long  one.  He  does  not  appear  to  have  derived 
any  of  his  personal  features  from  his  father  Pepin  the  Little, 
but  from  his  mother,  who  was  very  tall,  and  who  is  called 
"  Bertha  with  the  long  foot."  Pepin,  his  father,  is  described 
as  being  of  exceeding  small  stature,  but  of  great  courage  and 
incredible  strength ;  though  I  cannot  believe  that  he  cut  off 
the  head  of  a  lion  with  a  stroke  of  his  sword,  as  the  French 
chronicles  relate.J     Bertha,  his  mother,  in  the  early  histories 

*"Vita  et  Gesta  Karoli  Magni  Imperatoris  invietissimi,"  perEginhar- 
tuin  ejus  Secretarium  descripta.     Francof.  1707. 

■f  "  Statura  eminenti,"  says  Eginhart,  "  quse  tamen  justam  non  cxce- 
deret ;  nam.  septem  snorum  pedum  proceritatem  ejus  constat  habuisse 
figuram."  "  M.  Gaillard,"  says  Gibbon,  "fixes  the  stature  of  Charle- 
magne at  five  feet  nine  inches  of  French,  about  six  feet  one  inch  and  a 
fourth  English  measure." 

|  Mezerai  "  Abrege  Chronologique  de  l'Histoire  de  France,"  torn,  i,  p. 
447.    Paris,  1717. 

(191) 


192  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

of  France  figures  as  a  giantess;  later  historians  admit  that 
she  was  of  great  stature,  and  all  agree  that  her  character  was 
generous  and  noble.  Mezerai  insists  that  she  got  her  name 
of  Bertha  with  the  great  foot,  on  account  of  her  having  one 
foot  longer  than  the  other.*  I  hardly  think  that  this  is  so 
likely  as  that  both  her  feet  were  large. 

The  head  of  Charlemagne  was  round  and  high,  his  eyes 
were  very  large  and  sparkling,  his  nose  a  little  exceeded  the 
middle  size,  his  hair  was  beautifully  white  {canitie  pulchra, 
says  Eginhart,)  his  countenance  cheerful.  There  was  much 
dignity  in  his  appearance,  whether  sitting  or  standing.  Al- 
though his  neck  was  thick  and  short,  and  his  belly  rather  pro- 
tuberant, those  defects  were  concealed  by  the  proportion  of 
his  other  parts.  His  walk  was  firm,  and  his  whole  bearing 
manly.  His  voice  was  clear,  but  more  slender  than  accorded 
well  with  the  appearance  of  his  body.f 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  compare  this  sketch  with  the  pic- 
ture drawn  by  Mezerai.  "  One  cannot  hear  the  name  of  this 
prince  without  immediately  conceiving  the  idea  of  something 
great.  He  was  of  an  imposing  figure,  and  well  formed  in  all 
his  parts,  except  that  his  neck  was  a  little  too  thick  and  short, 
and  his  belly  a  little  too  protuberant.  His  walk  was  grave 
and  firm,  his  voice  not  sufficiently  clear.  His  eyes  were  well 
opened  and  brilliant,  his  nose  long  and  aquiline,  his  counte- 
nance gay  and  serene,  his  complexion  fresh  and  lively,  nothing 
effeminate  in  his  auction  and  in  his  bearing,  but  nothing  proud 
or  disdainful  ;  his  mind  gentle,  easy  and  jovial,  his  conversation 
unrestrained  and  familiar."  J 

There  was  a  general  resemblance  between  Charlemagne  and 
William  the  Conqueror.  Both  were  of  great  stature  and  full 
in  person;  and  as  Eginhart  says  of  Charlemagne,  so  William 

*  Mezerai,  torn.  1,  544. 
f  Eginhart,  <Vita  Karoli,'  ut  supra.         X  Mezerai,  torn.  1,  4.38. 


CHABLEMAGNE.  193 

of  Malmesbury  tells  us  of  the  Norman,  that  whether  sitting  or 
standing  his  appearance  was  majestic. 

The  health  of  Charlemagne,  Eginhart  tells  us,  was  good,  ex- 
cept that  for  four  years  before  his  death  he  was  frequently 
seized  with  fevers.  Latterly  he  was  lame  of  one  leg.  In  his 
illness  he  acted  more  according  to  his  own  notions  of  what  was 
good  for  him  than  by  the  advice  of  his  physician,  whom  he 
hated  because  he  forbade  him  the  roasted  meats  to  which  he 
had  been  accustomed,  and  in  which  he  delighted,  and  directed 
him  to  use  boiled  meat.  He  exercised  himself  continually  in 
riding  and  hunting,  according  to  the  habit  of  his  nation,  as 
there  is,  says  Eginhart,  scarcely  to  be  found  on  the  earth  a 
people  who  equal  the  Franks  in  this  respect.  He  loved  natu- 
ral hot  baths,  frequently  exercising  himself  in  swimming,  in 
which  he  excelled.  On  this  account  he  built  a  palace  at  Aix- 
la-Chapelle ;  and  here  in  his  latter  days  he  remained  constantly 
till  the  end  of  his  life.  To  these  baths  he  invited  his  sons,  his 
nobles,  and  his  friends,  and  sometimes  a  whole  crowd  of 
attendants  and  guards ;  so  that  occasionally  there  would  be  a 
hundred  or  more  persons  bathing  there. 

In  his  dress  the  emperor  followed  the  native  Frank  fashion, 
wearing  a  linen  shirt  and  trowsers,  a  jacket  with  a  silk  border 
and  trunk-hose.  Besides  these  he  had  bands  on  his  legs.  In 
winter  he  fortified  his  breast  and  shoulders  with  a  corslet 
made  of  otter  skins.  He  wore  a  Venetian  cloak,  and  was 
always  girt  with  a  sword,  the  belt  of  which  and  the  girdle  on 
which  it  hung  were  either  of  silver  or  gold.  He  had  also  a  sword 
adorned  with  jewels  which  he  wore  on  the  occurrence  of  so- 
lemnities, or  when  ambassadors  from  distant  nations  were  pre- 
sent. He,  however,  rejected  all  foreign  garments,  however 
beautiful,  nor  ever  suffered  them  to  be  put  upon  him,  except 
that  when  he  was  at  Rome,  at  the  request  of  Pope  Adrian  and 
again  at  the  request  of  Leo, bis  successor,  he  appeared  in  along 
robe  and  cloak  and  shoes  after  the  Roman  fashion. 
9 


194  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

At  great  public  ceremonies  he  wore  a  garment  interwoven 

with  gold  and  jewelled  shoes,  with  a  golden  clasp  fastening  his 
cloak.  He  then  walked  adorned  with  a  diadem  of  gems  and 
gold.  On  other  occasions  his  dress  was  little  different  from 
that  of  the  vulgar.  In  his  eating  and  drinking  he  was  tempe- 
rate, but  particularly  in  his  drinking;  for  he  abominated 
drunkenness  in  any  man,  and  more  particularly  in  himself,  and 
those  about  him.  He  could  not,  howrever,  Eginhart  goes  on 
to  say,  abstain  so  well  from  eating,  and  used  to  complain  that 
fastings  were  hurtful  to  his  body.  He  fasted  rarely,  and  then 
principally  on  great  days  and  with  a  great  munber  of  persons. 
At  his  ordinary  suppers,*  the  emperor  always  had  his  roasted 
meats,  of  which,  as  I  have  before  noticed  from  Eginhart,  he 
partook  more  willingly  than  of  any  other  food.  During  sup- 
per he  either  had  a  play  performed  before  him,  or  listened  to  a 
reader.  The  reading  in  which  he  delighted  most  was  the 
histories  of  ancient  kings.  It  is  mentioned  also  that  he  took 
great  pleasure  in  the  treatise  of  St.  Augustin  "  De  Civitate 
Dei." 

In  summer,  after  his  noon's  repast  {cibas  meridianus,)  he 
used  to  take  some  apples,  and  drink  a  little,  and  then  putting 
off  his  robes,  as  at  night  he  would  retire  to  rest  for  two  or 
three  hours. 

Eginhart,  who  furnishs  all  these  particulars,  is  an  historian 
of  the  highest  veracity.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  partiality  for 
his  patron  we  can  learn  the  whole  truth  about  the  emperor's 
habits.  Charlemagne  was  temperate  in  his  drinking,  but  vora- 
cious in  his  eating;  and  this,  as  will  be  seen,  is  what  legend 
and  romance  unite  in  recording  of  him. 

Gluttony,   which  would  be  reckoned  exceedingly  vulvar  in 

*  The  cccna  of  Charlemagne,  which  I  have  translated  supper,  was 
with  the  emperor  as  with  the  Romans,  the  principal  meal  of  the  day, 
answering  in  this  respect,  aud  from  the  time  of  which  it  was  taken,  to 
the  modern  dinner  of  England 


CHARLEMAGNE.  195 

humble  life,  is  a  kingly  and  aristocratic  vice,  and  is  not  reck- 
oned ungenteel  in  royal  and  exalted  persons.  "  La  noblesse 
oblige"  says  the  Baroness  d'Oberkirch,  "nobility  ennobles." 
Royal  and  aristocratic  blood  makes  that  refined  in  those  who 
possess  it,  which  is  regarded  as  brutish  among  people  who  are 
not  of  good  families.  There  is  a  long  list  of  imperial  gluttons 
ranging  from  the  great  Mithridates  of  Pontus — that  king  so 
wonderful  in  everything  :  who  could  drive  six  horses  in  hand, 
speak  fluently  twenty-two  different  languages,  and  swallow 
with  impunity  any  ordinary  poison — ranging  from  this  mar- 
vellous man  down  to  a  living  continental  princess.  The  Baro- 
ness d'Oberkirch,  who  considered,  as  she  herself  tells  us,  the 
want  of  high  blood  as  the  only  fault  utterly  unpardonable,  re- 
cords a  feat  of  her  own  in  gluttony  in  the  confectionery  line, 
for  which  she  paid  the  penalty  of  several  days'  severe  sick- 
ness, while  all  the  time  she  had  the  mortification  to  see  another 
lady  of  high  family,  who  she  says,  had  outdone  her  in  the 
quantity  which  she  had  devoured,  walking  about  apparently 

quite  uninjured. 

The  emperor,  says  Eginhart,  was  accustomed  to  break  his 
rest  at  night  by  waking  several  times  and  occasionally  rising. 
Then,  when  he  was  girt,  he  not  only  admitted  his  friends,  but  if 
the  count  of  the  palace  reported  to  him  any  lawsuit  which 
could  not  be  settled  without  his  authority,  he  presently  or- 
dered the  litigants  to  be  brought  in,  and  examined  the  case 
and  gave  judgment  as  if  he  were  sitting  in  court.  Besides 
this,  he  would  at  these  times  dispatch  any  other  business  and 
give  orders  to  his  servants.  In  these  matters  Eginhart  de- 
scribes a  practice  which  the  emperor  had  in  common  with  Au- 
gustus and  Napoleon. 

Charlemagne,  says  his  secretary,  was  copious  in  discourse, 
and  could  express  very  clearly  whatever  he  wished  to  say. 
Not  contented  with  his  own  language  he  bestowTed  pains  in  the 
acquiring  of  foreign  tongues;  and  he  learned  Latin   bo   well, 


196  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

that  he  was  accustomed  to  pray  in  that  language  as  well  as  in 
his  native  tongue.  The  Greek,  however,  we  are  told,  he  could 
understand  better  than  he  could  pronounce  it.  He  cultivated 
the  liberal  arts  most  studiously,  and  loaded  with  honors  those 
who  taught  him.  His  teacher  in  grammar  was  Peter  of  Pisa  ; 
in  his  other  studies  he  listened  to  Albinus,  called  Alcuinus  the 
Saxon,  a  deacon  from  Britain.  Under  him  he  devoted  much 
time  to  the  acquiring  of  rhetoric,  and  dialectics  and  astronomy. 
He  attempted  also  to  write,  and  for  this  purpose  he  carried 
about  with  him  in  his  bed,  under  his  pillow,  tablets  and  little 
books,  so  that  when  he  had  leisure  he  might  accustom  his 
hand  in  forming  the  letters.  But  this  labor,  says  Eginhart 
compassionately,  "  unreasonable  and  late  begun,"  succeeded 
but  indifferently.  The  affectionate  secretary  enlarges  on  the 
emperor's  works  of  piety  and  almsgiving,  mentioning  that  he 
corrected  the  reading  and  singing  in  the  churches,  though  he 
himself  neither  read  nor  sung  in  public,  but  in  a  low  voice  and 
in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  congregation. 

Such  is  the  substance  of  Eginhart's  highly  intersting  account 
of  Charlemagne's  studies,  and  from  his  kindly  statements  there 
is  no  great  difficulty  in  fairly  estimating  the  extent  of  the 
emperor's  scholastic  attainments.  This  great  man,  who  makes 
so  prominent  a  figure  in  history  as  a  warrior  and  statesman, 
and  a  munificent  patron  and  warm  lover  of  literature  and  sci- 
ence as  he  undoubtedly  was,  could  read  but  could  not  write. 
I  do  not  know,  however  whether  his  painful  efforts  to  acquire 
the  art  of  writing  in  his  advanced  years  do  not  excite  an  admi- 
ration of  the  greatness  of  bis  character  as  much  as  if  we  were 
to  hear  that  he  had  been  a  scholar  from  his  youth  upwards. 
The  amount  of  Charlemagne's  Latin  was  that  he  was  able  to 
pray  in  that  language — that  is,  he  could  repeat  the  Latin 
prayers  of  the  Church,  which  many  a  one  can  do  who  can 
neither  read  nor  write. 

The  Scottish  King,  Malcolm  III.,  a  man  of  good  intellect 


CHARLEMAGNE.  197 

and  a  patron  of  learning,  might  as  well  be  called  a  Latin 
scholar  as  Charlemagne,  because  he  used  to  kiss  the  book 
which  his  wife  the  sainted  Margaret  read  to  him.  There  is  no 
necessity  nor  even  excuse  for  extending  the  meaning  of  the 
word  or  are  in  the  secretary's  phraseology  farther  than  under- 
standing it  to  signify  that  the  emperer  used  the  prayers  pre- 
scribed by  the  Church.  (Latinum  ita  didicit  ut  ceque  ilia  ac 
patria  lingua  ware  sit  solitus.)  The  expression  about  his 
Greek  is  obscure  and  evasive ;  and  it  may  be  fairly  inferred 
that  his  being  able  to  say  "  Kyrie  Eleison"  in  church  was 
about  the  full  extent  of  Charlemagne's  acquirements  in  that 
rich  language.  But  what  man,  even  what  learned  man  in  France 
or  Germany,  in  that  age  understood  Greek?  Tiraboschi 
declines  believing  that  even  Italy,  where,  if  anywhere  in  the 
west,  the  knowledge  of  it  might  be  expected  to  be  lingering, 
could  boast  of  a  single  Greek  scholar.  "  I  do  not  find,"  he 
says,  "  to  tell  the  truth,  in  the  ninth  century,  any  writer  of 
our  provinces,  of  whom  it  can  be  affirmed  that  he  knew 
Greek."* 

With  the  genuine  portrait  of  the  emperor,  furnished  by  his 
contemporary  and  friend,  the  particulars  of  which  I  have  given 
in  a  condensed  form,  it  is  curious  and  interesting  to  compare 
the  picture  drawn  about  three  centuries  later  by  a  writer  who, 
adopting  the  grave  air  of  history,  has  given  us  the  romance  of 
Charlemagne.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  this  is  a  romance 
"  founded  on  facts."  In  the  history,  Charlemagne  is  a  tall 
man  and  an  excellent  eater ;  in  the  romance,  he  swells  into  the 
stature  of  a  giant  with  a  giant's  strength,  and  the  appetite  of 
an  ogre ;  wThile  his  temperance  in  drinking  is  eulogised  by  the 
romancer  just  as  it  is  by  the  historian. 

In  the  life  of  Charles  the  Great  and  Eoland,  falsely  attri- 

*  Tiraboschi.  "Storia  della  Letteratura  Italiana,"  torn,  vi,  p  118. 
Firenze,  1776. 


198  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

buted  to  Turpin,  Archbishop  of  Bheims,  who  was  the  empe- 
ror's contemporary,  the  twTenty-first  chapter  is  entitled,  "  De 
persona  et  fortitudine  Caroli."  Here  we  are  told  that  Charles 
was  Brown,  [brunus  after  the  German  brauri]  red  in  the  face, 
handsome  and  beautiful  in  the  body,  but  terrible  in  the  aspect. 
His  stature  was  eight  times  [the  history  says  seven  times]  the 
length  of  his  feet,  ivhich  was  very  long,  [silicet  qui  erant  long- 
issimi.]  His  shoulders  were  very  broad,  continues  the  ro- 
mancer, and  his  loins  proportionately  so ;  and. he  had  a  suit- 
able belly,  with  thick  arms  and  legs.  He  was  most  beautiful 
in  all  his  joints,  strong  in  conflict,  and  a  most  keen  soldier. 
His  face  was  a  span  and  a  half  in  length,  his  beard  a  span  and 
his  nose  about  half  a  span.  His  forehead  was  a  foot  in 
breadth,  and  his  eyes  as  the  eyes  of  a  lion  sparkled  like  car- 
buncles ;  every  man  on  whom  he  looked  in  wrath  was  terrified. 
His  girdle  was  eight  spans. 

In  the  eating  department,  Charles  is  made  to  figure  like  one 
of  those  terrible  monsters  for  clearing  the  world  of  which,  a 
meritorious  young  man,  familiarly  called  "  Jack,"  has  acquired 
the  immortal  title  of  "  the  giant  killer."  At  dinner,  says 
the  pseudo  Turpin,  th*e  emperor  took  little  bread,  but  eat 
the  fourth  part  of  a  ram,  or  two  fowls,  or  a  goose,  or  a  piece 
of  pork  (spatula  porcina — a  most  indefinite  description  of  quan- 
tity,) or  a  peacock,  or  a  crane,  or  a  whole  hare.  He  drank, 
however,  but  little  wine,  and  that  soberly  diluted  with  water. 
He  was  so  strong,  that  with  his  sword  he  cut  down  an  armed 
soldier  sitting  on  horseback,  horse  and  all,  from  the  crown  of 
the  head  to  the  ground  with  one  stroke. 

Similar  stories  have  found  their  way  into  other  histories  be- 
sides this  of  the  so-called  Turpin.  Montaigne  censures  Bodin 
for  treating  his  favorite  Plutarch  as  a  fabulist  when  he  relates 
that  Pyrrhus,  with  his  sword,  cut  down  an  armed  man  into 
two  halves.*     In  the  history  of  Scotland,   however,  the  full 

*  Montaigne,  "  Essais,,,  liv.  iv.  c.  32. 


C  H  ARLEMAGNE .  19!) 

feat  attributed  to  Charlemagne  of  cutting  man  and  horse 
asunder  at  a  stroke,  is  ascribed  to  a  Scottish  knight  lighting  in 
the  French  army  during  the  wars  between  England  and  France 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  Charlemagne,  we  are  farther  told, 
could  raise  an  armed  man  on  his  palm  with  one  hand  from 
the  ground  to  his  head.  He  was,  says  the  pretended  Turpin,' 
in  conclusion  most  generous  in  his  gifts,  most  righteous  in  his 
judgments,  and  pleasant  in  his  discourse.* 

The  reader  who  listens  to  the  way  in  which,  according  to 
this  wonderful  history,  the  bed  of  Charlemagne  was  guarded 
by  night,  will  not  be  surprised  that  his  slumbers  were  neither 
sound  nor  lengthened.  "  About  his  bed  every  night  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty  brave  and  orthodox  men  (the  author  of  the 
romance  is  intensely  orthodox  and  exceedingly  theological) 
were  placed  to  guard  him.  Forty  of  these  passed  the  first 
watch  of  the  night,  namely  ten  at  his  head  and  ten  at  his  feet, 
ten  on  his  right  side  and  ten  on  his  left,  holding  each  in  his 
right  hand  a  naked  sword,  and  in  his  left  a  burning  candle. 
In  the  same  way,  other  forty  kept  the  second  watch  ;  and,  in 
like  manner,  other  forty  kept  the  third  watch  even  until  day, 
the  rest  in  the  meanwhile  sleeping."!  The  emperor  must  have 
been  as  famous  for  sleeping  as  he  was  for  eating,  if  he  could 
have  slept  with  ail  these  annoyances  about  him. 

On  four  solemn  festivals  of  his  Church,  says  Turpin,   when 

*  "  De  Vita  Caroli  Magni  et  Rolandi  Kistoria,  Joanni  Turpino,  Archi- 
episcopo  Rimensi  valgo  tributa, '  p.  56.  Florentioe,  1822. — The  real 
Archbishop  Turpin  died  in.  the  year  800,  fourteen  years  before  Charle- 
magne. The  romance  attributed  to  him  has  been  pretty  accurately  as- 
signed to  the  end  of  the  eleventh  or  the  beginning  of  thetwelfeh  century, 
between  1090  and  1120.  By  some  writers,  Pope  Calixtus  II ,  who  in 
1122  put  the  seal  of  his  infallible  authority  on  the  truth  of  the  whole 
story,  has  been  charged  with  the  authorship  of  this  curious  book. 

t  Turpin,   "De  Vita  Caroli,"  p.  57. 


200  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

the  Emperor  kept  his  court  in  Spain,  he  wore  his  crown  and 
carried  his  sceptre;  namely,  on  the  birthday  of  the  Saviour, 
on  the  eve  of  Pasch,  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  on  St. 
James's-day. 


MIDDLE    AGE    PORTRAITS. 


I  am  aware  that  as  the  memory  of  the  heroes  who  lived 
before  Agamemnon  has  perished,  because,  as  Horace  tells  us, 
they  had  not  a  poet  to  celebrate  their  deeds,  so  there  is  much 
ignorance  prevailing  about  the  personal  appearance  and  char- 
acteristics of  the  great  and  enlightened  men  and  women  of  the 
dark  ages,  arising  not  so  much  from  the  want  of  writers  and 
chroniclers  in  these  ages  as  from  their  obscurity  at  this  day, 
and  the  dryness  of  their  manner,  which  repels  the  perusal  of 
modern  readers.  The  Byzantine  writers,  in  particular,  are 
tasteless,  silly,  and  cold. 

Mr.  Hallam  is  not  perfectly,  though  tolerably,  correct  when 
he  tells  us  that  between  the  appearance  of  the  work  of  Boe- 
thius,  "De  Consolatione  Philosophise,"  (anno  460)  and  the 
date  of  the  "  Letters  of  Abelard  and  Heloise"  (1170,)  Europe 
did  not  produce  a  single  entertaining  work.  He  might  have 
added  to  this  list,  as  coming  within  this  dry  period,  that 
Prance  gave  to  the  world  the  "  History  of  the  Pranks,"  by 
Gregory  of  Tours  (591  ;)  Germany,  Eginhard's  "  Life  of  Char- 
lemagne" (870;)  and  England,  the  histories  of  the  Venerable 
Bede  (730)  and  William  of  Malmesbury  (1142 ;)  all  of  them 
very  interesting  works. 

I  should  have  liked  well  to  have  been  able  to  have  presented 

(201) 


202  CLASSIC  AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

my  readers  with  a  complete  portrait  of  the  famous  Queen 
Brunehilde,  "  the  murderess  of  seven  kings,"  as  the  old  chroni- 
clers call  her;  of  the  great  and  good  King  Alfred  ;  and  of 
the  famous  Gerbert,  or  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  the  greatest  man 
of  science  of  his  age,  of  whose  connexion  with  the  devil  so  many 
stories  have  been  handed  down  to  us  by  a  succession  of  credu- 
lous historians.  But  above  all,  1  regret,  with  M.  Chasles,  that 
we  are  entirely  ignorant  of  the  outward  appearance,  the  man- 
ners and  habits  of  Roswida,  the  nun  of  Gandesheim,  who, 
amidst  the  thick  darkness  of  the  tenth  century — the  darkest 
of  the  dark — the  sceculum  obscurimi  of  historians — with  a  pious 
and  faithful  hand,  trimmed  the  lamp  of  knowledge  in  her 
chamber  in  the  convent,  and  having  studied  the  drama  in  the 
plays  of  the  heathen  Terence,  wrote  those  Christian  comedies 
still  extant  which  are  mentioned  with  such  high  praise  by  the 
earliest  literary  annalists  of  Europe,  as  works  calculated  to 
lead  those  wTho  witnessed  their  performance  in  the  paths  of 
virtue  and  religion. 

The  Christian  theatre  was  then,  as  it  had  always  been  since 
its  origin  with  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  continued  to  be  till 
about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  faithful  ally  of  the 
pulpit  and  the  Church.  Little  did  the  cheerful  and  good- 
humored  nun  dream  that  the  time  would  come  when  a  set  of 
sour,  surly  fellows,  calling  themselves  what  she  would  not  have 
called  herself,  godly,  would  rise  up  and  make  a  divorce  between 
religion  and  everything  that  is  agreeable,  and  declare  that  such 
innocent  and  instructive  recreations  as  had  produced  roars  of 
salutary  laughter  amongst  her  spiritual  sisters,  were  the  inven- 
tions and  contrivances  of  Satan,  who  according  to  the  Puri- 
tans, is  the  author  of  everything  that  is  pleasing,  graceful,  or 
elegant,  or  that  tends,  in  any  measure,  to  make  the  burden  of 
this  weary  life  bearable.* 

*  The  question  has  been  raised,  were  the  comedies  of  Roswida  inten- 


MIDDLE    AGE    PORTRAITS.  203 

M.  Chasles  is,  I  think,  pretty  safe  in  assuring  us  that  whe- 
ther Koswida  was  or  was  not  beautiful,  her  appearance  must 
have  been  intellectual  and  expressive.  His  picture  of  the 
young  nun  reading  Terence  under  the  shadow  of  the  great 
oaks  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganda  is  extremely  fine. 

ded  for  performance  and  actually  performed,  or  only  designed  for  peru- 
sal ?  From  the  specimen  of  their  character,  and  the  nature  of  the  fun 
which  pervaded  them,  as  given  by  M.  Chasles,  I  cannot  doubt  that  they 
were  actually  performed.  Mr.  Hallam  ("  Introduction  to  the  Literature 
of  Europe,''  lib.  I,  c.  14,)  speaks  with  contempt  of  the  nun's  comedies  ; 
but  Hallam  speaks  contemptuously  of  "Bayle's  Dictionary,"  and  had  a 
perfect  passion  for  everything  that  is  dry  and  unreadable,  and  an  utter 
destitution  of  all  imagination,  taste,  or  feeling.  M.  Chasles,  who  has 
the  faculties  of  a  true  critic  about  him,  gives  a  favorable  judgment  on 
the  writings  of  Roswida.  See  his  Essay  "  Hrosvita,  Religieuse  de  Gan- 
desheinv'  in  his  "  Etudes  sur  leMoyenAge,"  p.  243. 


ABELAED    AND    HELOISE. 


We  have  but  little,  and  that  very  imperfect,  knowledge  of 
the  persons  of  the  famous  Abelard  and  Heloise.  In  modern 
times  doubts,  not  well  founded  I  think,  have  been  entertained, 
whether  Heloise  was  really  beautiful.  It  may  not  be  good 
evidence  of  her  personal  charms,  that  Abelard,  from  the  first 
time  of  his  becoming  acquainted  with  her,  meditated  her  se- 
duction ;  but  the  fair  interpretation  of  the  celebrated  passage, 
in  which  he  ranks  her  literary  attainments  above  her  beauty, 
is,  I  think,  a  testimony  that  she  was  possessed  of  beauty. 

From  this  passage,  it  must  be  admitted  that  no  less  acute  a 
critic  than  Bayle,  who,  however,  had  a  predisposition  to  un- 
dervalue the  influence  of  mere  personal  beauty  in  exciting 
love,  has  inferred  that  Heloise  was  but  moderately  comely. 

"  As  in  her  face,"  says  Abelard,  "  she  was  not  the  lowest, 
so  in  literature  she  was  supreme  "  (cum  per  faciem  non  esset 
infitma,  per  abundantium  literatum  esset  suprema.*)  From 
this  indirect  mode  of  compliment,  Bayle  argues  that  Heloise 
was  merely  "sufficiently  pretty"   (assez  belle;)  and  he  asks 

*  "  Petri  Abelardi  Abbatis  Ruycnsis  et  Heloisaj  Abbatiss  u  Paracle- 
tcnsis  Epist.  i,  p.  9.     Lond.  1718.     (Rawlinson's  Edit  ) 

(20-1) 


ABELAKD    AND    HELOISE.  205 

whether  those  who  have  described  her  as  possessed  of  the 
most  ravishing  beauty  are  to  be  believed  in  preference  to  Abe- 
lard,  who  had  an  interest  in  magnifying  her  charms.* 

Now,  it  is  certainly  to  be  regretted  that  Abelard,  who  has 
shown  so  little  modesty  and  so  much  distinctness  in  speaking 
of  his  own  great  personal  attractions,  has  not  avoided  all  am- 
biguity in  his  description  of  Heloise,  though  the  circumstance 
is  perfectly  characteristic  of  the  man.'  Yet  it  may  still  be 
contended,  and  with  good  reason,  that  the  non  infirna  may  be 
taken  to  express  a  great  degree  of  beauty,  and  be  an  equiva- 
lent for  eximia. 

A  completely  parallel  usage  of  the  same  form  of  compli- 
ment occurs  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  "  And  thou  Bethle- 
hem, in  the  land  of  Judah,  art  not  the  least  (ovx  s-kawta.) 
amongst  the  princes  of  Judah ;  for  out  of  thee  shall  come  a 
king  who  will  rule  my  people,"  where  it  cannot  be  disputed 
that  the  highest  honor  is  intended  to  be  bestowed  on  the  city 
which  gave  birth  to  the  Saviour.  On  the  whole,  I  think  we 
have  Abelard's  testimony,  as  far  as  it  is  valuable,  to  the  beauty 
of  Heloise  ;  and  if  on  this  snbjecthe  has  been  much  more  con- 
cise than  could  have  been  wished,  we  must  remember,  that 
when  he  penned  this  passage,  his  days  of  rapture  wrere  fled  for 
ever. 

In  an  interesting  abstract  of  the  history  of  Abelard  and 
Heloise,  M.  Villenave  states  his  opinion  that  Heloise  had  a 
moderate  beauty  (une  beaute  mediocre  ;)  and  from  some  expres- 
sions in  the  strange  commentary  wThich  Abelard  makes  in  his 
second  epistle  to  Heloise,  on  the  passage  in  the  song  of  Solo- 
mon, "  I  am  black  but  comely,"  he  ventures  to  assert  that  she 
was  of  a  dark  complexion. 

We  have  evidence  that  both  Heloise  and  Abelard  were  of 
tall  stature.     M.  Villenave's  essay  contains  an  account  of  the 

" Dictionnaire  Hist,  et  Crit."  Art.  "Heloise." 


206  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

various  translations,  from  place  to  place,  which  the  remains  of 
this  famous  pair  underwent,  from  the  time  that  they  were  first 
interred  in  the  priory  of  Saint  Marcel,  till  they  were  removed 
to  the  cemetery  of  Pere  le  Chaise.  "  They  have  been  troubled 
and  agitated  in  death,"  he  says,  "  as  they  had  been  in  life." 

When  Lucien  Buonaparte,  as  Minister  of  the  Interior,  in 
1800,  directed  that  their  remains  should  be  removed  from  their 
then  resting-place,  in  the  church  of  Nogent,  to  the  Museum  of 
French  Monuments,  the  coffin  was  opened.  The  head  of  Abe- 
lard  was  found  to  be  incomplete,  but  that  of  Heloise  was  per- 
fectly entire.  Besides  the  head  of  Heloise,  the  coffin  contained 
the  lower  jaw  in  twTo  parts,  and  the  thighs,  the  legs,  and  the 
arms,  all  completely  preserved. 

On  this  occasion,  Delaunaye,  the  author  of  a  life  of  Abelard, 
examined  with  care  the  bones  remaining  of  both  skeletons 
(which  were  separated  by  a  leaden  plate,)  and  declared  that 
both  had  been  persons  of  great  stature  and  fine  proportions 
{cVune  grande  stature  et  de  belles  proportions.)  Lenoir,  the 
originator  of  the  Museum  of  Monuments,  came  to  the  same 
conclusion,  adding,  that  "  the  head  of  Heloise  is  beautifully 
proportioned ;  the  forehead  of  a  flowing  form  {cVune  forme 
coidante,)  well-rounded,  and  in  harmony  with  the  other  parts 
of  the  head,  expresses  still  a  great  beauty." 

While  their  remains  were  in  the  Church  at  Nugent,  enor- 
mous sums,  amounting  sometimes  to  a  thousand  crowns,  were 
several  times  offered  for  a  single  tooth  of  Heloise.  u  I  have 
no  occasion  to  add,"  says  Delaunaye,  "  that  these  offers  were 
made  by  Englishmen."  Lenoir  preserved  in  his  cabinet,  some 
fragments  of  the  bones  and  teeth  of  both  Heloise  and 
Abelard.* 

*  Villenave,  "  Abelard  et  Heloise,  leurs  Amours,  leurs  Malheurs,  et 
leurs  Ouvrages,"  p.  118,  prefixed  to  "  Lettres  d'  Abelard  et  Heloise." 
Paris,  1840. 


ABELARD    AND    HELOISE.  207 

"  There  is,"  says  M.  Villenave,  "  no  authentic  image  of  these 
illustrious  personages,  who  for  a  moment  were  the  light  of  let- 
ters and  of  philosophy  in  the  long  darkness  of  the  middle  ages." 
There  are,  it  appears,  two  medallions  of  Abelard  and  Heloise 
in  an  old  and  miserable  house  in  the  cloister  of  Notre  Dame, 
said  to  have  been  the  residence  of  Fulbert,  Heloise's  uncle  ;  but 
the  costume  of  both  proves  that  these  figures  are  works  of  a 
comparatively  modern  date.  Busts  of  the  two  were  moulded 
by  direction  of  Lenoir  from  casts  taken  from  their  skulls. 

Those  who  do  not  seek  so  much  to  be  accurate  as  entertain- 
ing in  their  histories,  never  fail  to  ascribe  abundance  of  beauty 
to  women  who  have  inspired  a  powerful  passion  in  the  other 
sex.  The  popular  stories  of  Heloise  all  agree  in  heaping 
a  crowd  of  charms  upon  her  person,  which  they  have 
composed  out  of  the  usual  materials  of  black  hair,  black  eyes, 
ruddy  lips,  white  teeth,  perfect  symmetry  of  form,  &e.  Such 
testimonies  might  be  easily  set  aside,  if  in  addition  to  the  evi- 
dence furnished  by  Delaunaye  and  Lenoir,  we  had  not  other 
opinions  from  writers  who  had  studied  the  history  of  the  famous 
lovers,  and  were  not  able  to  put  Bayle's  interpretation  on  Aber 
lard's  words.  Papire  Masson  tells  us  that  Heloise  was  of  ex- 
cellent wit  and  beauty  (prcestanti  ingenio  et  forma.) 

Gervase  also,  who  had  studied  every  document  referring  to 
her  and  Abelard,  and  who  certainly  had  nothing  either  of  sen- 
timent or  romance  about  him,  and  whose  avowed  object  was 
to  withdraw  attention  from  the  history  of -the  erring  lovers  to 
the  record  of  the  piety  of  the  abbot  and  the  abbess,  consider- 
ing that  in  treating  as  they  had  done  of  "  the  least  edifying 
days"  of  Abelard,  other  writers  had  "composed  pieces  of  gal- 
lantry only  suited  to  nourish  an  impure  flame  ;"  even  Gervase, 
the  recluse  of  La  Trappe,  with  these  high  views,  feels  justified 
in  telling  us  of  Heloise  that  "  few  girls  surpassed  her  in  beau- 
ty, while  in  the  kingdom  and  perhaps  on  earth  she  had  not  her 
equal  in  wit  and  learning."     (Peu  de  filles  la  surpassoieut  en 


208  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

beaute;  mais  il  n'y  en  avoit  dansle  royaume,  ni  peut-etre  sur 
la  terre  qui  l'egaloit  en  esprit  et  en  erudition.*) 

Brucker,  the  historian  of  Philosophy,  also  tells  us  that  she 
was  "  commendable  for  her  exquisite  beauty"  (eximia  pul- 
chritudine  commendaMlis:)\  which  is  sufficient  to  show  that 
this  very  learned  writer  had  read  the  testimony  of  Abelard 
in  the  same  spirit  as  I  think  it  ought  to  be  read. 

Of  Abelard  we  have  his  own  testimony  that  he  was  very 
beautiful ;  and  though  he  was  in  every  respect  a  conceited  cox- 
comb, perhaps  his  evidence  on  this  point  cannot  well  be  rejec- 
ted. He  tells  us  that  when  he  contemplated  the  seduction  of 
Heloise  he  believed  he  would  have  a  very  easy  task.  "  For  I 
was  then,"  he  says,  "of  so  great  reputation  and  was  so  endowed 
with  the  graces  of  youth  and  form,  that  I  feared  no  repulse 
from  any  woman  whatever  on  whom  I  might  condescend  to 
bestow  my  love."|  This  language  is  remarkably  characteris- 
tic of  Abelard.  At  the  time  to  which  he  refers  he  was  forty 
and  Heloise  not  half  that  age ;  and  yet  he  could  speak  of  his 
"  youth."  There  is  no  doubt  that  downright  impudence,  in 
which  Abelard  was  an  eminent  proficient,  has  a  great  charm 
for  most  men  and  women  in  this  world.  The  power  of  audac- 
ity in  politics  and  in  war  is  invariably  acknowledged,  and  in 
love  also  that  assurance  which  is  blind  to  all  chance  of  failure 
will  often  succeed  where  a  world  of  modest  merit  may  fail. 
The  younger  Crebillion  in  his  best  and  indeed  his  only  decent 
romance,  "  Les  Egarements  du  Coeur  et  de  l'Esprit,"  introdu- 
ces the  universal  favorite  Versac  instructing  Meilcour  in  the 
art  of  succeeding  in  female  society,  and  assuring  him  that  all 

*  "  Vide  de  Pierre  Abeilard,"  &c.  torn   1,  p.  42  Paris  1720. 

{  "  Historia  Critica  Philosophise,"  torn.  nr.  p.  744.  Lipsise,  1743. 

\  "Tanti  quippe  tunc  nominis  eram  et  juventutis  et  formse  gratia 
praceminebam,  ut  quamcuraque  fajminarum  nostro  dignarer  amore,  nul- 
la-nvererer  rep  ulsam  "     Ahelakdi  "Epist."  i,  p  9. 


ABELABD    AND     HELOISE.  209 

that  is  required  is  to  talk  incessantly  about  himself  and  in 
praise  of  himself;  and  that  it  was  by  professing  a  highly  favor- 
able opinion  of  himself  that  he  had  driven  all  his  rivals  out  of 
the  field.  "Let  us  not,'1  says  Versac,  "be  inwardly  preju- 
diced in  favor  of  our  own  merit,  but  let  us  appear  to  be  so  ; 
let  a  certain  assurance  be  painted  in  our  eyes,  in  the  tone  of 
our  voices,  in  our  gestures,  and  even  in  the  regard  we  have  for 
others.  Above  all,  let  us  speak  continually  and  speak  well  of 
ourselves ;  let  us  not  fear  to  say  and  say  again  that  we  are 
possessed  of  superior  merit.  There  are  thousands  of  people 
who  are  believed  to  have  merit,  simply  because  they  never 
cease  telling  us  that  they  have."* 

Abelard  could  act  accordingly  to  the  laws  here  laid  down 
without  being  guilty  of  any  hypocrisy  ;  for  this  arrogant  man 
was  sincerely  and  profoundly  impressed  with  a  sense  of  his 
own  talents.  It  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  see  a  woman 
passionately  in  love  with  a  man  who  has  not  one  particle  of 
love  or  admiration,  or  even  respect,  to  bestow  upon  any  crea- 
ture in  the  world  but  himself;  whose  whole  worship  is  paid 
at  his  own  shrine  ;  and  who,  to  the  eyes  of  all  indifferent  per- 
sons, appears  scarcely  to  put  a  decent  veil  over  his  heartless 
and  ignorant  contempt  of  the  being  who  loves  him  ardently, 
and  of  the  whole  sex  to  which  she  belongs.  Such  a  man  was 
Abelard  ;  such  a  woman  was  Heloise.  It  is  certainly  far  from 
evident  that  Abelard  ever  loved  Heloise  at  all.  Heloise  her- 
self, constitutionally  the  victim  of  vehement  passion,  had  more 
than  mere  misgivings  on  this  subject ;  and  in  a  very  remarka- 
ble passage  in  her  first  letter  she  reproaches  Abelard  with  hav- 
ing neither  friendship  nor  love  for  her;  "  and  this,"  she  adds, 
"  my  dearest,  is  not  so  much  my  thought  as  that  of  all 
others."  f 

*  "Les  Egarements  du  Coeur  et  de  l'Esprit,"  p.  277.  Maestricht, 
1786. 

f  "  Ooncupiscentia  te  mihi  potius  quara  amicitia  sociavit,  libidinis  ardor 


210  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

That  Heloise  ardently  loved  and  generously  loved  Abelard, 
there  is  no  room  to  doubt.  Hers  was  a  better  nature ;  arid  it 
is  to  be  regretted  that  in  their  attempts  to  palliate  the  hate- 
ful selfishness  of  her  seducer,  most  of  his  biographers  have 
done  great  injustice  to  his  victim.  Her  expressed  desire  to  be 
considered  the  mistress  rather  than  the  wife  of  Abelard,  after 
their  secret  marriage,  has  been  represented  as  an  effusion  of 
diseased  licentiousness.  But  Heloise  may  surely  claim  to  be 
judged  by  reference  to  the  opinions  of  the  age  in  which  she 
lived.  To  have  been  avowedly  a  married  priest,  would  have 
ruined  the  worldly  prospects  and  crossed  the  ambition  of 
Abelard ;  while  to  have  kept  a  mistress  or  any  quantity  of 
mistresses,  would  have  been  no  bar  to  his  sitting  in  the  chair 
of  St.  Peter,  and  acting  as  the  Vicar  of  God. 

The  prevailing  opinion  in  Heloise's  time  was,  that  it  was 
positively  pollution  for  a  priest  to  be  married,  but  quite  allow- 
able for  an  unchaste  man  to  officiate  at  the  altar.  This  opinion 
was  sincerely  and  devoutly  held  by  Heloise,  and  in  this  light, 
which  was  her  light,  what  has  been  charged  against  her  as  the 
delirium  of  profligacy,  was  the  fruit  of  her  zeal  for  the  honor 
and  the  interests  of  Abelard.  The  great  joy  which  she  felt  at 
the  prospect  of  becoming  a  mother,  is  characteristic  of  the 
woman  and  a  favorable  characteristic.  "  She  wrote  to  me 
about  it,"  says  Abelard,  "  with  the  greatest  exultation"  {cum 
summa  exultationc.)*     I  suspect  that  the  profligate  theologian 

quam  amor.  Haec,  delectissime,  non  tam  mea  est  quam  omnium  conjec- 
tura." — Epist.  Helois<e,  i,  p.  51.  This  is  most  painfully  unromantie. 
Heloise  wrote  with  terrible  vigor  ;  and  literary  women  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury used  language  which  is  not  permitted  to  men  in  the  nineteenth, 
"  She  loved  like  St.  Theresa,  and  wrote  sometimes  like  Seneca,"  says 
M .  Cousin.  In  her  third  letter,  amidst  a  crowd  of  references  to  Scrip- 
ture and  to  the  writings  of  the  Fathers  and  Saints  of  the  Church,  she 
makes  a  special  and  verbatim  quotation  from  Ovid's  H  Art  of  Love." 

*  Abelardi,  "Epist  "  i,  p.  12. 


ABELAED    AND    HELOISE.  211 

did  not  read  the  letter  conveying  the  happy  tidings  with  any 
exultation  at  all. 

Perhaps  Heloise  was  aware  that  her  vain  lover  would  take 
pare  to  let  the  world  know  sufficiently  about  his  fine  figure 
without  her  assistance.  It  must,  however,  be  regarded  as 
somewhat  remarkable  that  the  evidence  of  the  woman  who 
loved  him  to  distraction  is  wanting  to  confirm  the  very  favor- 
able judgment  which  Abelard  passes  on  hit  own  beauty. 
Heloise  alludes  distinctly  enough  to  his  accomplishments,  and 
tells  us  in  language  breathing  of  her  own  intense  passion  that 
neither  maid  nor  married  woman  could  resist  him.*  "  There 
were  in  particular  in  you,  "  she  says,  "  two  gifts  by  which  you 
could  presently  draw  towards  you  the  heart  of  any  woman — 
the  arts  of  talking  and  of  singing ;  gifts  rarely  attained  by 
philosophers." 

Abelard  besides  was  a  poet;  I  venture  to  conjecture  a  cold, 
stiff,  and  pedantic  poet,  and  Heloise  alludes  to  his  amatory 
verses,  which,  on  account  of  their  sweetness  of  diction  and 
music,  she  says,  were  in  every  one's  mouth — as  a  principal 
cause  why  the  women  sighed  for  love  of  him  ;  and  "  as  these 
songs,"  she  tells  us,  "  for  the  most  part  treated  of  our  loves, 
they  spread  my  name  in  many  regions  and  kindled  the  envy 
of  many  women  against  me."f  She  adds,  and  this  is  the  only 
reference  which  she  makes  to  his  person,  and  it  is  vague  enough 
— "  For  what  gift  of  mind  or  body  did  not  adorn  thy  youth  ?" 

Pope,  in  his  beautiful  epistle  of  Heloise,  makes  her  predict 
that  her  love  would  be  grafted  "  immortal"  on  the  fame  of 
Abelard.  I  dare  say  that  this  might  be  the  thought  of  Heloise, 
but  it  is  just  the  reverse  that  has  taken  place.     Abelard  owes 

*  "Quae  conjugata  quae  virgo  non  concupiscebat  absentem  et  non 
c.vardebat  in  parseentem  ?" — Epist.  Heloise,  1,  p.  51.  Heloise's  language 
is  unfortun  ately  always  gross. 

f  "  Epist.  Heloise,"  i,  p.  51. 


212  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

nil  the  fame  which  he  now  enjoys  to  the  passion  entertained  for 
him  by  Heloise,  who  deserved  a  more  worthy  lover ;  he  owes 
all  the  knowledge  which  exists  of  his  name  to  his  profligacy. 

Popular  opinion,  misled  by  a  succession  of  romance  writers, 
has  been  amazingly  favorable  to  the  memory  of  Abelard,  in 
whose  real  character  it  is  difficult  to  discover  one  redeeming 
point-  For  the  guilt  of  Heloise,  many  excuses  may  be  pleaded. 
Abelard  was  a*grave  divine  of  forty  years  of  age,  a  commenta- 
tor on  the  Scriptures,  and  a  teacher  of  religion,  when  he  delib- 
erately undertook  the  ruin  of  Heloise,  then  a  girl  between 
seventeen  and  eighteen  ;#  and  for  this  purpose  he  appealed  to 
the  avarice  of  her  uncle,  by  offering  to  educate  his  niece  at 
whatever  price  he  should  be  pleased  to  pay.  All  this  is  stated 
in  the  plainest  and  coolest  language  by  Abelard  himself,  in  the 
first  of  the  epistles  published  in  Rawlinson's  collection.  He 
adds  that  he  was  comfounded  at  the  simplicity  of  Fulbert  in 
accepting  his  offer,  and  delivering  his  niece  wholly  into  his 
hands,  "  as  if  he  had  committed  a  tender  lamb  to  a  famished 
wolf"  (quam  si  agnam,  teneram  famelico  lupl  committer et.)\ 
All  this  is  rather  infamous  than  romantic ;  it  is  quite  different 
from  any  of  the  tales  in  which  those  who  have  "  loved  not 
wisely,  but  too  well,"  have  mutually  been  the  seducers  of  each 
other. 

*  The  writers  of  the  romances  which  have  been  made  about  Abeli  d 
evade  all  allusion  to  this  dreadful  disparity  between  the  years  of  the 
seducer  and  the  seduced.  Both  Abelard  and  Heloise  died  in  their  grand 
climacteric — the  63rd  year  of  their  ages  ;  Abelard  on  the  21st  of  April, 
1142  (Gervase,  torn,  n,  p.  132)  ;  Heloise  on  the  17th  of  May,  1164  (Ger- 
vase,  lib.  n,  p.  284.)  Gervase  expressly  tells  us  that  she  was  seventeen 
or  eighteen  when  she  became  the  pupil  of  Abelard  (Gervase,  torn,  i,  p. 
42,)  and  when  Abelard  was  consequently  forty — more  than  double  her 
age  by  two  years.  In  the  face  of  these  dates,  it  avails  nothing  that  Abe- 
lard, with  his  usual  impudence  speaks  of  his  youth. 

t  Abelardi,  "  Epist."  i,  p.  9. 


ABELARD     AND    HELOISE.  213 

The  latter  days  of  the  Abbess  Heloise  were  not  particularly 
edifying.  Her  mind,  naturally  easy  to  corrupt,  had  been  com- 
pletely debauched  by  the  arts  of  Abelard ;  and  when  he  was 
compelled  to  be  virtuous  himself,  and  desired  to  wean  her 
affections  from  the  deceitful  pleasures  of  this  world,  and  tarn 
her  soul  to  the  all-satisfying  love  of  God,  he  failed  in  his  endea- 
vors. Her  letters  afford  the  most  unmistakable  evidence,  that 
never  was  mortal  woman  more  feebly  qualified  for  the  office 
of  an  abbess  than  was  the  unfortunate  Heloise,  whose  burning 
imagination  in  the  midst  of  her  devotions  presented  to  her  soul 
none  but  the  most  sensual  ideas  and  images. 

There  has  often  been  remarked  something  like  a  temporal 
judgment  in  the  loathsome  deaths  of  many  who  have  desired 
to  live  in  sinful  pleasures.  The  Empress  Theodora,  we  have 
seen,  was  covered  with  ulcers.  The  disease  of  which  Abelard 
died  has  been  described  as  the  itch.  His  body  appears  to  have 
been  as  completely  overrun  with  sores,  as  was  that  of  the 
patriarch  Job  in  the  days  of  his  affliction.  Gervase  compares 
him  to  the  man  of  Hz,  both  in  his  sufferings  and  in  his  patience, 
and  has  given  a  minutely  painful  account  of  his  disease  and 
his  torments,  with  which  I  shall  not  trouble  my  readers. 


ELIZABETH    OF    HUNGARY. 


Saint  Elizabeth  of  Hungary  and  her  husband  Louis  the 
Landgrave  of  Thuringia  were  the  most  beautiful  persons  of 
their  times.  The  eloquent  modern  biographer  of  Elizabeth, 
the  Count  de  Montalembert,  has  in  his  extremely  interesting 
work  collected  from  a  crowd  of  authorities  the  particulars  of 
her  form,  and  features,  and  appearance.  All  the  chroniclers 
agree  in  praise  of  her  extreme  beauty. 

"  She  was  very  beautiful  in  the  person,"  say  the  Bollandists 
{corporevalde  speciosa  erat.)  "  Saint  Elizabeth,"  says  the  Ger- 
man Adam  Ursinus,  "  was  perfect  in  the  body"  (volkommcn 
an  dem  Leibe.)  "  There  was  not  a  more  beautiful  person  in 
the  world,"  says  a  French  writer,  quoted  by  Montalembert. 
Her  figure  wTas  tall  and  stout,  and  her  features  admirable. 
Her  hair  was  black,  and  her  complexion  was  dark  but  beauti- 
ful; (Braun  an  dem  Angesichte  und  schon)  says  Ursinus.  Ariel 
all  authorities  agree  that  her  whole  appearance  and  carriage 
were  noble  and  majestic. 

Montalembert  has  combined  all  the  particulars  furnished  by 
his  authorities  into  a  fine  portrait.  "Her  beauty,"  he  says, 
"  was  regular  and  perfect ;  her  entire  figure  left  no  improve- 
ment to  be  desired  in  it;  her  complexion  was  dark  and  clear 

(>M) 


ELIZABETH     OF    HUNGARY.  215 

{ton  tei/it  etait  brun  et  pur,)  her  hair  black,  her  figure  of  unri- 
valled elegance  and  grace,  her  walk  grave,  and  full  of  noble- 
ness and  majesty;  above  all,  her  eyes  appeared  like  afire 
(foyer)  of  tenderness,  of  charity,  and  of  compassion.  It  was 
easy  to  see  that  in  this  earthly  beauty,  there  was  painted  a 
brilliant  reflexion  of  the  immortal  beauty  of  her  soul."* 

The  biographers  of  illustrious  persons  have  generally  shown 
a  disposition,  while  intending  to  exalt  the  character  of  their 
heroes  and  heroines,  to  paint  them  like  themselves ;  and  often 
to  lower  them  to  their  own  standard.  Thus  D'Aubigne,  trying 
to  exalt  Luther,  makes  him  like  a  modern  Evangelical  preacher, 
and  by  leaving  out  one-half,  and  that  certainly  not  the  wrorse 
half  of  his  character,  has  succeeded  in  depriving  it  of  what 
helped  to  make  the  great  German  reformer  the  natural,  impul- 
sive, likeable  man  that  he  was ;  presenting  to  us  a  person  little 
better  than  D'Aubigne  himself,  instead  of  the  true  man  Lu- 
ther ;  the  player  at  skettles,  the  advocate  of  the  theatre,  the 
drinker  of  ale,  whose  favorite  lines  expressed  his  favorite  tastes, 
which  were  for  wine,  beauty  and  music — 

"  Wer  nicht  liebt  Wein,  "Weiber  und  Gesang, 
Der  bleibt  ein  Narr  sein  Lebelang." 

In  this  spirit,  some  ascetic  writers  have  painted  Elizabeth, 
very  much  such  as  they  themselves  were,  and  have  tried  to 
make  an  absurd  and  whimsical  devotee  of  her  who  appears  to 
have  been  a  perfect  lady.  Writers  of  a  more  sound  and  cheerful 
religion  have  described  her  as  everything  that  is  amiable  and 
graceful  in  mind,  as  she  was  in  body — a  light  and  joy  to  the 
circle  in  which  she  moved.  The  amiable  St.  Frances  of 
Sales,  a  saint  of  the  first  and  truest  order,  himself  by-the-by 
like  Fenelon,  whom  he  so  much  resembled  in  mind,  distin- 

•  "  Ilistoire  de  Sainte  Elizabeth  do  Hongrie,"  par  le  Compt  de  Mon- 
talcmbert,  p.  22(3.    Paris,  1319. 


216  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

guished  for  his  personal  beauty ;  "  the  gentleman  saint,'1  as 
Leigh  Hunt,  in  one  of  his  essays  calls  him — as  if  to  be  a  saint 
and  a  gentleman  were  a  marvel,  if  not  even  a  miracle — this 
St.  Francis,  in  his  charming  work  on  the  devout  life — the 
prettiest  and  most  practical  of  books  of  piety — tells  us  of  Eliza- 
beth that  "  As  for  St.  Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  she  played  and 
danced  sometimes  when  she  was  in  company  to  which  these 
things  were  pleasures,  which  did  no  harm  whatever  to  her  de- 
votion, for  that  was  so  deep  rooted  in  her  soul,  that  as  the 
rocks  by  the  lake  of  Eietta  grow  larger  amidst  the  waves  and 
billows,  so  did  her  devotion  increase  amidst  the  pomps  and 
vanities  to  which  her  condition  exposed  her.  Great  fires  are 
made  greater  by  the  wind ;  it  is  only  the  small  ones  which  are 
extinguished  if  they  be  not  protected  by  a  cover."* 

The  taste  of  Elizabeth  was  for  plain  and  humble  attire  ;  but 
at  any  time,  at  the  request  of  her  husband,  or  to  please  the 
assemblies  in  which  she  had  to  appear,  she  would  dress  and 
adorn  her  beautiful  person  with  a  magnificence  becoming  her 
rank. 

The  fame  and  virtues  of  Elizabeth  have  thrown  the  name  and 
history  of  her  husband,  the  pious  Louis,  into  the  shade.  It 
may  be  mentioned  as  interesting,  that  this  matchless  dark 
beauty  was  married  to  a  prince  of  an  exceedingly  fair  com- 
plexion, with  long  light  hair  flowing  over  his  shoulders.  His 
figure  was  well  proportioned,  the  expression  of  his  features 
calm  and  benevolent.  "  The  charm  of  his  smile,"  says  Mon- 
talembert,  "  was  irresistible.  His  walk  was  noble  and  digni- 
fied ;  his  voice  of  extreme  sweetness."  "  Many  persons,"  adds 
the  enthusiastic  writer,  "believed  that  they  saw  in  him  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  the  portrait  which  tradition  has  preserved 
of  the  Son  of  God  made  man."t 

*  S.  Francoise  -de  Sales,  "Introduction  a  la  Yie  Devote,"  c.  xxxiv. 
Paris,  1850. 

t  "Histoire  da  Sainte  Elizabeth,"  p.  215. 


DANTE. 


We  are  familiar  with  the  slender,  wasted,  melancholy,  and 
somewhat  feminine  features  of  the  great  Dante,  conveyed  to 
us  evidently  with  fidelity  by  the  earliest  Italian  painters, 
copying  from  the  great  Giotto,  his  contemporary.  The  soft, 
slender,  half-shut  eye  is  said  to  be  a  peculiarity  in  the  paint- 
ings of  Giotto,  and  part  of  his  manner.  The  sallow,  tinged 
complexion  of  the  poet  is  well  known,  from  its  association 
with  the  belief  of  the  common  people  of  Italy  in  his  time  that 
Dante  had  actually  visited  those  regions  of  pain — "  the  griev- 
ing city,"  and  "  the  lost  people," — which  he  has  described  in 
that  immortal  work  which  awoke  to  life  the  long-slumbering 
genius  of  modern  Europe  and  modern  poetry.  The  original 
fresco  portrait  of  Dante  has  been  revealed  in  our  days  on  the 
wall  of  the  chapel  of  the  Palazzo  del  Fodesta  at  Florence, 
where  it  had  for  nearly  five  hundred  years  been  covered  over 
with  a  thick  dirty  coating. 

The  exquisitely  beautiful  imaginative  picture  of  Dante  me- 
ditating the  story  of  Francesca  di  Rimino,  by  Mr.  Noel  Paton, 
a  Scottish  artist  of  a  peculiarly  graceful  genius — which,  from 
the  calm  sweet  atmosphere  which  it  presents,  would  be  a  fine 
picture  of  the  figure  of  Dante  were  a  mere  accessory,  like  a 
10  (217) 


218  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

shepherdess  in  a  landscape  of  Claude — has  the  merit  of  giv- 
ing us  the  Dante  of  Giotto — though  the  Dante  of  latter  days  ; 
for  the  fresco  discovered  in  1840  is  Dante  in  his  thirtieth  year. 
"  On  comparing,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  the  head  of  Dante, 
painted  was  about  thirty,  prosperous  and  distinguished 
in  his  native  city,  with  the  latter  portraits  of  him  when 
he  was  an  exile,  worn,  wasted,  embittered  by  misfortune, 
and  disappointed  and  wounded  pride,  the  difference  of  ex- 
pression is  as  touching  as  the  identity  of  features  is  indu- 
bitable."* 

*  Mrs.  Jameson,  "Memoirs  of  the  Early  Italian  Painters,"  vol  i,  y.  32. 


ROBERT  BRUCE 


Robert  Bruce,  the  greatest  of  Scottish  kings,  was,  accord- 
ing to  Major  the  historian,  "  of  a  fair,  graceful,  and  active 
body,  with  broad  shoulders,  and  a  beautiful  countenance ;  his 
hair  after  the  fashion  of  the  Northerns  being  yellow,  and  his 
eyes  blue  and  sparkling."*  His  statue,  as  it  was  ascertained 
by  the  disinterment  of  his  remains  in  the  year  1818,  "when 
Scotland  after  five  centuries  again  beheld  her  great  deliverer," 
was  between  five  feet  ten  and  six  feet.  Prom  the  measure- 
ment of  the  thigh  bone,  Dr.  Gregory  calculated  that  he  was 
from  five  feet  ten  to  five  feet  eleven  ;  while  others  thought  the 
skeleton  that  of  a  man  of  six  feet.  His  head  was  of  the  mid- 
dle size  and  well  formed,  such  as  is  generally  found  in  men  of 
the  highest  ability. 

The  coins  of  King  Robert  represent  him  with  his  locks  long 
and  curled.  The  lower  jaw  was  found  to  be  remarkably 
strong  and  deep.  This,  says  Sir  Robert  Liston,  in  his  ana- 
tomical remarks  on  the  skeleton,  has  been  considered  as  indi- 
cative of  great  strength ;  and  hence  the  ancient  sculptors  in- 
their  figures  of  the  divinities  combined  depth  of  this  bone  with 

*  "Eratenim  pulchro,  decoro  etvegeto  corpore,  latis  humeris.  venusta 
facie,  flava,  more  borealium  cresarie,  caeruleis  et  micantibua  oculis."— 
Major  "  Hist.  Majoris  Brittannije,"  lib.  v,  c.  2. 

(219) 


220  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

the  shortness  peculiar  to  youth.  The  ramus  (the  bone  pro- 
ceeding upwards  from  the  back  part  of  the  jaw,)  he  adds,  rises 
almost  perpendicularly  from  the  base  of  the  bone. 

It  appears  that,  as  in  the  instances  of  Julius  Caesar  and  the 
illustrious  Sobieski,  the  hardships  and  toils  of  his  early  years 
brought  upon  Eobert  Bruce  a  premature  old  age.  The  dis- 
ease of  which  he  died  is  attributed  by  Barbour,  who  in  this 
point  is  followed  by  Bishop  Leslie,  to  his  out-door  life  during 
the  days  of  his  adversity. 

In  the  character  of  this  man  there  was  a  singularly  harmo- 
nious and  beautiful  union  of  the  best  moral  and  intellectual 
gifts.  His  intellect  was  at  once  vigorous,  refined,  and  subtle. 
"With  all  his  heroism  as  a  warrior  and  his  wisdom  as  a  politi- 
cian, he  could  never  have  done  what  he  did,  if  he  had  not 
added  to  his  heroism  and  his  wisdom  the  rarest  patience  in 
affliction,  and  the  most  unwavering  reliance  on  Providence. 
What  he  really  achieved,  and  how  he  achieved  it,  make  his 
genuine  history  like  the  richest  treasures  of  romance.  He  had 
to  contend  with  poor  resources  against  a  wealthy  enemy,  and 
with  inferior  numbers  against  armies  and  leaders  who  were 
the  terror  of  all  Europe,  and  yet  this  extraordinary  contest 
was  completely  successful. 

If  Poland  or  Hungary,  in  their  struggles  for  nationality  in 
modern  days,  had  had  a  head  like  that  of  Eobert  Bruce  to 
guide  them,  they  would  at  this  hour  have  been  completely 
independent  nations.  And  this  man,  if  he  had  not  been  a  great 
warrior  and  a  profound  politician,  and  called  on  to  exercise 
all  his  high  and  varied  gifts  for  the  noblest  national  purposes, 
would  have  shone,  as  Caesar  and  Alexander  would  have  shone, 
in  private  life.  He  was,  as  his  recorded  sayings  prove,  a  man 
of  a  poetical  mind,  and  of  a  gentle  and  graceful  wit.  He  had 
those  soft  parts  of  conversation  "  which  win  the  favor  of  the 
other  sex."  He  resembled  in  all  their  good  points  Henry  II. 
of  England,  and   Henry  IV.  of  France;  and  as  men  being 


ROBERT    BRUCE.  221 

human  must  be  imperfect,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  in 
some  measure,  though  to  a  less  degree,  he  also  resembled 
those  great  kings  in  their  too  warm  admiration  of  female 
beauty. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  alleged  that,  as  is  recorded 
of  Augustus,  he  made  his  affairs  of  gallantry  subservient  to 
his  state  policy ;  and  it  certainly  does  not  appear  that  they 
ever,  as  they  frequently  did  with  the  English  and  the  French 
Henry,  stood  in  the  way  of  his  duty  to  himself  and  his  coun- 
try. However  this  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  it  was  in  the 
depth  of  difficulties  and  dangers,  out  of  which  no  genius  less 
splendid  and  no  virtues  less  obstinate  than  his  could  have 
delivered  him,  that  a  woman,  gifted  perhaps  with  a  presenti- 
ment that  a  bright  day  of  triumph  was  about  to  dawn  on  so 
much  heroism  and  so  much  goodness,  placed  with  her  own 
hands  the  crown  on  the  brows  of  the  most  illustrious  of  Scot- 
land's monarchs. 


INEZ    DE     CASTRO. 


The  true  history  of  Inez  de  Castro,  the  mistress,  and  in  suc- 
cession the  wife,  and  lastly,  in  death,  the  crowned  queen  of 
Pedro  of  Portugal,  called  "  the  Cruel,"  is  as  full  of  melancholy 
romance  and  of  terrible  and  grand  tragedy  a£  anything  that 
poetry  and  fiction  have  ever  conceived.  -The  extreme  beauty 
of  her  neck  and  bosom  has  been  celebrated.  A  portrait  of 
her  has  been  transmitted  to  our  times.  An  engraving  of  it, 
borrowed  from  a  work  entitled  "  Retratos  e  elogios  dos  Varoes 
e  Donas  que  illustraron  a  nacao  Portugueza,"  is  prefixed  to 
the  second  volume  of  Adamson's  "  Life  of  Camoens,"  as  her 
history  forms  an  episode  in  the  great  epic  poem  of  Portugal. 
The  features  are  uncommonly  regular  and  handsome,  and  the 
whole  face  and  expression  are  marked  by  calmness  and  gentle- 
ness. Even  the  peculiar  and  unnatural  head  dress  in  which 
she  appears  does  not  destroy,  though  undoubtedly  it  does  not 
add  grace  to,  her  sweet  features. 

That  must  have  been  an  affecting  and  solemn  ceremony, 

exciting   emotions  at  once  pleasing,  sublime,  and  terrible — 

something  to  which  there  is  no  parallel  in  all  history,  when, 

four  whole  years  after  the  barbarous  murder  of  this  famous 

beauty,  Pedro,  on  coming  to  the  throne,  caused  the  body  of 

his  adored  wife  to  be  translated  from  its  tomb  in  the  monas- 

(222) 


INEZ    DE    CASTRO.  223 

tery  of  Santa  Clara  to  that  of  Alabaca.  When  the  corpse 
was  disinterred  in  the  midst  of  the  nobles,  the  dead  lady  was 
placed  on  a  royal  throne,  and  Pedro  with  his  own  hands  put 
a  golden  crown  on  her  head,  while  all  present  kneeled  before 
her,  saluting  her,  and  kissing  her  hand  as  Queen  of  Portugal. 
When  the  procession  arrived  at  Alabaca,  this  appalling  yet  pa- 
thetic coronation  of  a  mouldering  carcase  was  repeated.  The 
beautiful  figure  of  Inez  was  sculptured  on  her  tomb,  but  was 
afterwards  injured  by  an  attempt  to  open  it  made  by  King 
Sebastian. 

The  care  which  Pedro  took  solemnly  to  remove  all  manner  of 
doubt  of  his  having  been  married  to  Inez,  though  state  policy  had 
compelled  him  to  espouse  her  only  in  private,  redeems  a  mul- 
titude of  crimes.  We  understand  and  compassionate  the 
gloominess  of  his  after  character  ;  we  sympathise  with  the  terri- 
ble vengeance  which  he  took  on  the  assassins  of  his  bride.  He 
was  deeply  injured  if  ever  man  was.  The  murder  of  Eizzio 
by  the  Scottish  barons  was  a  crime  of  atrocious  baseness;  but 
I  do  not  know  in  what  terms  the  killing  of  Inez  de  Casto  by 
the  Portuguese  nobles  can  be  at  all  adequately  described. 

The  narrative  now  given  of  the  resurrection  of  Inez  contra- 
dicts and  refutes  the  story  sometimes  told  that  the  murderers 
cut  off  her  head.  She  was  stabbed  with  poinards  in  the  neck 
and  bosom,  "  that  neck  of  alabaster,"  says  Camoens,  "  which 
bore  those  perfections  with  which  love  killed  him  who  after- 
wards made  her  queen." 

"  No  collo  de  alabastro  que  soetinha 

As  obras  com  que  Amor  maton  de  amoves 
A  quello  que  despois  a  fez  rainha." 


AGNES    SOEBL' 


Agnes  Sorel,  the  mistress  of  Charles  VII.,  is  the  most 
celebrated  French  beauty  of  her  age,  inheriting  from  her  own 
day  to  this  the  title  of  "  the  beautiful  Agnes."  Posterity  has 
dealt  very  gently  with  her  memory  and  character,  and  has  re- 
presented her  as  at  once  endowed  with  the  meekness  and  humi- 
lity of  Mademoiselle  de  la  Valliere,  and  with  the  patriotism 
and  generous  public  spirit  of  Nell  Gwynne.  To  her  influence 
over  the  king  is  attributed  all  the  good  that  appeared  in  him, 
and  she  in  particular  gets  credit  for  having  roused  him  to  the 
effort  which  drove  the  English  out  of  France.  The  popular 
portrait  of  this  frail  beauty  is  indeed  quite  enchanting.  "  Hea- 
ven," says  Mademoiselle  de  B ,  "had not  only  endowed 

Agnes  with  the  charms  of  face ;  she  had  an  air  of  grace,  an 
admirable  figure,  more  wit  than  any  other  woman  in  the  world 
and  that  the  most  delicate  and  finely  turned,  and  a  certain 
greatness  of  soul  which  led  her  naturally  to  generosity ;  all 
her  inclinations  were  noble  ;  she  was  attentive,  compassionate, 
ardent  in  friendship,  discreet,  sincere,  and  in  short,  altogether 
fitted  to  make  herself  be  loved  to  distraction.* 

After  noticing  her  death  under  suspicion  of  poison,  Made- 

•  "  Histoirc  deu  Favorites,"  par  Mademoiselle  de  B ,  p.  102. 

(224) 


AGNES    SOREL.  225 

moiselle  de  B goes  on  to  say :  "  Such  was  the  unfortunate 

end  of  the  most  beautiful  person  whom  France  ever  gave  birth 
to.  Her  memory  has  ever  been  esteemed  there.  Celebrated 
authors  speak  favorably  of  her ;  never  did  the  mistress  of  a  king 
make  so  generous  a  use  of  her  favor,  which  she  never  employed 
but  for  the  good  of  others.  The  care  which  she  took  to  inspire 
the  project  of  war  into  the  king  covers  her  with  much  glory,  and 
on  this  point  Francis  I.  bestowed  on  her  illustrious  testimonies 
which  will  make  her  live  eternally."* 

The  reference  to  Francis  I.'s  testimony  reminds  us  of  the 
verses  said  to  have  been  written  by  him  on  Agnes,  which  cer- 
tainly show  that  he,  living  about  a  century  after  her,  believed 
in  her  gentleness  and  in  her  patriotism.  The  king,  finding  her 
portrait  amongst  several  others  in  a  portfolio,  wrote  some 
lines  under  each  of  them,  and  the  following  under  that  of 
Agnes : 

"  Gentille  Agnes  !  plus  d honneur  tu  merites 

La  cause  etant  de  France  recouvree 

Que  ce  que  peut  dans  un  cloitre  ouvrer 

Close  nonain,  on  bien  devote  hermite." 

The  historian  Duclos  has  adopted  these  stories.  "  Agnes," 
he  says,  "  was  the  mistress  for  whom  Charles  had  the  greatest 
passion,  and  she  was  the  most  worthy  of  his  attachment.  Her 
singular  beauty  caused  her  to  be  called  '  the  Fair  Agnes,'  and 
she  was  also  called  '  the  lady  of  beauty,'  a  rare  example  for 
those  who  enjoy  the  same  favor.  She  loved  Charles  only  for 
himself,  and  had  no  other  object  in  her  conduct  than  the  glory 
of  her  lover  and  the  good  of  the  state.  Agnes  Sorel  distin- 
guished herself  by  qualities  preferable  to  those  which  are 
found  in  her  sex."f  And  again,  he  says  that  Agnes  "  died 
this  year  (1450)  regretted  by  the  king,  the  court,  and  the  peo- 

*  "  Historie  des  Favorites,"  p.  158. 

t  "Histoire  de  Louis  XL"  par  M.  Duclos,  torn,  l,  p.  6.    Amst.  1746. 
10* 


226  CLASSIC    AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

pie.  She  never  abused  favor,  and  united  the  rare  qualities  of 
a  tender  mistress,  a  true  friend,  and  a  good  citizen."  "  I  do  not 
know,"  he  candidly  adds,  "how  Alain  Chartier  strove  so 
much  to  defend  the  chastity  of  Agnes,  who  died  in  childbed. 
She  had  three  daughters  to  Charles."* 

A  violent  death,  and  distance  of  years  soften  the  asperity 
with  which  persons  in  the  situation  of  Agnes  Sorel  are  assailed 
during  their  lives ;  and  after  the  grave  has  closed  over  her, 
charitable  posterity  is  willing  to  believe  that  an  unchaste 
woman  may  not  have  been  altogether  a  demon.  The  rancor 
of  her  own  sex  has  long  ceased  to  persecute  the  memory  of 
Fair  Rosamond,  and  even  of  the  more  guilty  Jane  Shore ;  and 
the  most  harshly  virtuous  of  the  sex  in  the  present  day  are 
good  enough  to  hope  that  both  the  one  and  the  other  have 
found  that  grace  which  was  given  to  Mary  Magdalen  and 
Eahab  the  harlot.  Under  the  notion,  which  is  the  prevailing 
one  in  the  present  day,  that  Agnes  Sorel  was  an  extremely 
amiable  sinner,  and  a  lover  of  her  country  and  her  country's 
glory,  a  set  of  quadrilles  bearing  her  name  is  admitted  to  a  place 
on  virtuous  pianos ;  just  as  Nell  Gwynne  is  at  this  day  intro- 
duced on  the  stage  in  decent  comedies. 

Yet  there  is  unfortunately  stubborn  contemporary  authority 
for  destroying  the  whole  idea  of  Agnes's  moral  loveableness 
and  her  patriotism,  and  for  leaving  her  nothing  to  recommend 
her  but  mild  features,  her  alabaster  skin,  and  her  golden  hair, 
which  have  never  been  disputed.  It  is  historically  untrue  that 
it  was  by  her  persuasion  that  the  king  was  excited  to  expel 
the  English  from  France.  The  peace  of  Arras  was  concluded 
eight  years  before  Charles  became  enamored  of  Agnes.  From 
certain  contemporary  accounts  which  it  is  not  easy  to  distrust 
in  favor  of  later  testimonies,  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
meekness  and  sweetness  attributed  to  Agnes  Sorel,  were 
rather  the  property  of  Mary  of  Anjou,  Charles's  injured  queen. 
*  Duclos,  torn   1,  p.  64. 


AGNES    SOREL.  227 

George  Chastelain,  a  contemporary  writer,  in  his  "  Chro- 
nique  desDucs  de  Bourgogne"  represents  Agnes  as  a  woman 
ostentatious  in  her  splendor,  and  not  merely  immodest  in  her 
manners,  but  a  zealous  teacher  of  immodesty  in  other  women. 
She  appeared  at  court  in  all  the  state  of  a  princess;  her  apart- 
ments were  more  richly  adorned  than  those  of  the  queen,  she 
had  more  female  attendants,  and  she  had  all  the  reverence 
shown  to  her  that  she  could  have  had  if  she  Had  herself  been 
queen.  Her  beds,  her  tapestries,  her  linen,  the  vessels  and 
dishes  on  her  table,  the  rings  and  the  jewels  which  she  wore, 
wTere  all  finer  than  those  of  the  queen,  and  so  was  her  kitchen, 
and  so  was  everything  about  her.  There  was  in  short,  he 
tells  us,  no  princess  in  Christendom  so  highly  adorned,  and 
kept  in  such  state.  "  With  this  woman,  called  Agnes,"  says 
Chastelain,  "  whom  I  have  seen  and  known,  the  king  was  ter- 
ribly besotted."  To  please  her,  he  tells  us,  Charles  did  many 
things  against  his  honor,  and  the  murmurs  against  both  her 
and  him  were  loud.  The  trains  which  she  wore,  he  adds,  were 
longer  by  a  third  than  any  princess  of  this  kingdom  had,  and 
her  robes  were  more  costly.  "And  of  everything,"  Chastelain 
says,  "  in  the  way  of  dress  that  can  seduce  to  immodesty  and 
licentiousness,  she  was  the  producer  and  promoter."*  He 
describes  with  indignation  the  extreme  to  which  Agnes  carried 
the  lowness  of  her  dress,  and  the  zeal  with  which  she  studied 
day  and  night  to  make  all  virtuous  women  throw  aside  honor, 
shame  and  good  manners,  and  the  great  influence  which  she 
exercised  in  corrupting  the  morals  of  France,  f     The  whole 

*  George  Chastelain,  as  quoted  by  Le  Roux  de  Lincy  in  his  introduc- 
tion to  the  "  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles,"  p.  14.     Paris,  1844. 

t  "  Descouvrioit  les  espaules  et  le  seing  devant,  jusques  aux  tettins, 
donnoit  a  toute  baudeur  loy  et  cours,  feust  a  homme,  feust  a  femme,  ne 
estudiott  qu'en  vainite  jour  et  nuit  pour  desvoier  gens,  et  pour  faire  et 
donner  example  aux  preudes  femmes  de  perdicion  d'onneur,  de  vergoigne 
et  de  bonnes  raeurs." — Ch.vstelain  as  quoted  by  Le  Roux  de  Lincy. 


228  CLASSIC    AND  HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

nobility,  he  says,  gave  themselves  up  to  vanity  by  her  exhorta- 
tion and  example. 

In  what  Chastelain  says  of  the  richness  of  apparel  in  which 
Agnes  delighted,  his  testimony  is  confirmed  by  Olivier  de  la 
Marche,  and  by  Monstrelet,  both  of  them  contemporary  histo- 
rians ;  and  those  who  speak  of  the  simplicity  and  plainness  of 
her  dress,  and  her  unostentatious  habits  are  manifestly  in  the 
wrong.  "  This  fair  Agnes,"  says  Monstrelet,  "  had  been  five 
years  in  the  service  of  the  queen,  during  which  she  had  enjoyed 
all  the  pleasures  of  life  in  wearing  rich  clothes,  furred  robes, 
golden  chains,  and  precious  stones."* 

We  must  presume  that  the  extreme  openness  of  dress, 
which  Chastelain  so  much  reprobates  in  Agnes,  had  been 
introduced  by  her  amongst  the  women  at  court ;  as  otherwise, 
if  she  had  merely  followed  the  established  fashion,  she  could 
not  be  fairly  charged  with  immodesty.  As  to  her  indulgence 
in  the  most  gorgeous  garments,  while  it  may  argue  bad  taste, 
it  can  hardly  be  reckoned  criminal ;  and  it  is  not  fair  to  treat 
that  as  a  sin  in  Agnes  which  is  mentioned  without  any  repro- 
bation in  women  of  unquestioned  innocence.  There  is,  in  truth, 
an  appearance  in  Chastelain's  statements — which,  however,  in 
substance  are  confirmed  by  other  good  authorities,  and  cannot 
be  rejected — of  a  wish  to  make  Agnes  look  at  least  as  bad  as 
she  was.  Besides  calling  her  by  the  harshest  name  which  can 
be  bestowed  on  a  frail  woman,  he  adds  that  she  was  a  poor 
servant  (povre  ancelle,)  and  of  an  insignificant  and  low  house, 
(de  petit  basse  maison.) 

This  is  pure  spite  on  the  part  of  the  virtuous  chronicler.  It 
is  no  alleviation  of  Agnes's  guilt  to  recollect  that  she  had  the 
miserable  merit  of  being  of  noble  rank,  and  of  an  ancient  family, 
being  the  daughter  of  the   Seigneur  de  St.  Geran,   while  her 

*  'The  Chronicles  of  Enguerrand  de  Monstrelet,"  vol.  ix,  p.  96, 
(Johness  Trans.)     Lond.  1810. 


AGNES    SOKEL.  229 

poor  service  was  that  of  being  first  the  attendant  of  Isabella, 
Queen  of  Naples  and  Sicily,  and  afterwards  of  Mary,  the  wife 
of  Charles.  Her  situation  in  the  household  of  the  amiable 
queen  when  she  became  the  king's  mistress,  her  rank  by  birth, 
and  her  education,  are  all  aggravations  of  her  criminality. 
Neither  extreme4  youth,  nor  ignorance,  nor  any  chain  of 
unfortunate  circumstances  can  be  pleaded  in  her  behalf.     She 

was  not  the  girl  of  seventeen  as  Mademoiselle  de  B ,for 

the  sake  of  romantic  effect,  makes  her  when  the  king  fell  in 
love  with  her.  It  was  in  the  year  1431,  when  she  was  two- 
and-twenty,  that  she  entered  the  service  of  Isabella  of  Naples. 

How  long  after  this  it  was  till  she  became  lady  in  wTaiting  to 
the  Queen  of  France,  when  Charles  could  first  have  seen  her, 
I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain.  I  have  seen  a  calculation 
which  makes  her  about  eight-and-twenty  when  the  king  fell  in 
love  with  her  ;  there  is,  however,  better  reason  to  believe  that 
she  was  three-and-thirty.  Olivier  de  la  Marche,  a  contemporary 
writing  about  certain  events  which  took  place  in  1444  tells  us 
in  connexion  with  them  that  u  the  king  had  just  (nouvellement) 
elevated  a  poor  lady,  a  pretty  woman  {genti  femme)  called 
Agnes  du  Sorel,  and  placed  her  in  such  triumph  and  power, 
that  her  state  was  comparable  to  that  of  the  great  princess  of 
the  realm."* 

The  truth  appears  to  be  that  Agnes  became  known  as  mis- 
tress to  the  king,  who  was  rather  her  junior,  at  the  ripe  age 
of  thirty-three.  This  fact,  for  such  I  assume  it  to  be,  spoils  one 
of  Mademoiselle  de  B 's  most  effecting  sentences.  Speak- 
ing of  Agnes,  when  the  king  fell  in  love  with  her,  she  says  : 
"  That  penetrating  vivacity  which  the  age  of  seventeen  gives 
to  an  infinite  beauty,  spread  an  air  full  of  charms  on  the  least 
of  her  actions,  and  the  most  insensible  souls  could  not  resist 
her."f 

*  "  Olivier  de  la  Marche,"  quoted  by  La  Roux  de  Lincy,  ut  sup.  p.  13. 

f  "  Histoire  des  Favorites,"  p.  104. 


230  CLASSIC   AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Seventeen  has  always  been  the  favorite  figure  with  roman- 
cers in  fixing  the  age  of  a  heroine  at  the  peried  of  her  most 
splendid  achievements.  It  is  the  age  of  womanhood  in  Asia, 
and  in  novels  and  poetry  in  England,  where  it  has  the  great 
merit  of  alliterating  pretty  tolerably  with  "  sweet."  Hence 
while  "  sweet  seventeen"  is  a  stock  phrase  with  the  dealers  in 
fiction,  we  never  hear  of  sweet  eighteen,  nor  sweet  twenty ; 
much  less  of  sweet  three-and-thirty. 

Whatever  merits  Agnes  may  have  had,  it  is  hardly  consist- 
ent with  the  idea  of  her  being  possessed  of  much  humility,  that 
she  should  strive,  as  it  is  a  fact  that  she  did,  to  outshine  the 
queen  in  all  kinds  of  magnificence ;  more  especially  as  Mary 
appears  to  have  borne  the  alienation  of  the  king's  love  from  her, 
not  merely  with  resignation,  but  with  sweetness  of  temper,  and 
by  no  action  or  word  ever  to  have  reproached  the  reigning 
favorite. 

I  suspect,  after  all,  that  when  we  add  to  Agnes's  beauty,  the 
gay  temper,  pleasing  manners,  and  agreeable  conversation 
which  Monstrelet  allows  her,  we  have  summed  up  her  perfec- 
tions ;  and  all  that  can  farther  be  pleaded  with  truth  in  her 
favor,  is  her  charity  to  the  poor — quite  a  common,  and  indeed 
a  characteristic  virtue  amongst  wTomen_of  Agnes's  class — and 
her  death-bed  repentance,  both  of  which  are  attested  by  genu- 
ine history.  Her  arrogance,  and  disregard  for  the  feelings  of 
the  Queen,  are  hardly  to  be  doubted.  On  one  occasion  the 
dauphin  (afterwards  Louis  IX.),  it  is  said,  gave  Agnes  a  blow 
on  the  face,  for  uttering  some  irritating  languge — some  say 
for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  the  queen. 

It  is  not  easy  to  say  much  in  favor  of  Louis's  character, 
but  his  attachment  to  his  mother  was  sincere,  and  he  resented 
the  ill-usage  which  she  suffered,  so  far  as  to  quarrel  with  his 
father  about  it;  while  he  hated  Agnes  Sorel,  for  her  ostenta- 
tious magnificence,  and  the  contempt  in  which  she  is  said  to 
have  held  the  queen. 


AGNES    SOREL.  231 

There  is  reason  to  doubt  if  Agnes  Sorel  died  of  poison,  as  is 
positively  affirmed  by  several  historians.  Mezerai  states  it 
broadly  as  a  fact.  The  scandal  went,  that  the  poison  was 
administered  by  the  dauphin.  The  known  ill-will  which  he 
bore  to  Agnes,  would  naturally  lead  to  the  fixing  of  such  an 
accusation  upon  him.  Agnes  was  seized  with  violent  purg- 
ings,  which  continued  a  long  time,  and  then  carried  her  off,  in 
the  fortieth  year  of  her  age. 

"  She  was,"  said  Monstrelet,  who  shows  her  no  particular 
favor,  "  very  contrite,  and  sincerely  repented  of  her  sins.  She 
often  remembered  Mary  Magdalen,  who  had  been  a  great  sin- 
ner, and  devoutly  invoked  God  and  the  Virgin  Mary  to  her 
aid.  Like  a  true  Catholic,  after  she  had  received  the  Sacra- 
ments, she  called  for  her  book  of  prayers  (in  which  she  had  writ- 
ten with  her  own  hand  the  verses  of  St.  Bernard,)  to  repeat 
them.  She  then  made  many  gifts,  which,  including  alms  and  the 
payment  of  her  servants,  might  amount  to  nearly  sixty  thou- 
sand crowns."* 

The  interesting  chronicler  who  tells  us  these  particulars 
seems  to  relent  in  her  favor,  when  he  describes,  as  he  does  with 
much  simple  pathos,  the  last  moments  of  this  renowned 
beauty.  "  The  fair  Agnes,"  he  says,  "  perceiving  that  she  wTas 
daily  growing  weaker,  said  to  the  Lord  de  la  Trimouille,  the 
lady  of  the  Seneschal  of  Poitou,  and  one  of  the  King's  equer- 
ries called  Gouffier,  in  the  presence  of  all  her  damsels,  that  our 
fragile  life  was  but  a  stinking  ordure.  She  then  required 
that  her  confessor  w7ould  give  her  absolution  from  all  her  sins 
and  wickedness,  conformable  to  an  absolution  which  was,  as 
she  said,  at  Loches,  which  the  confessor,  on  her  assurance, 
complied  with.  After  this,  she  uttered  a  loud  shriek,  and 
called  on  the  mercy  of  God,  and  the  support  of  the  blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  and  gave  up  the  ghost  on  Monday,  the  9th  day 
of  February,  in  the  year  1449,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  after- 
*  "  Monstrelet,"  lib  i,  p.  98 


232  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

noon."  Monstrelet  kindly  adds:  "May  God  have  mercy  on  her 
soul,  and  admit  it  into  Paradise  !" 

The  body  of  Agnes  was  interred  in  the  church  at  Loches, 
which  had  been  enriched  by  her  pious  liberality.  Her  figure 
in  white  marble  was  placed  on  a  black  tombstone.  At  one  end 
were  two  angels  supporting  the  pillow  on  which  her  head 
rested,  while  in  the  playful  allusion  to  her  name,  which  was 
common  in  her  days,  two  lambs  lay  at  her  feet.  I  think  I  have 
read  somewhere  that  at  the  '.Revolution  this  monument  was 
destroyed  by  a  horde  of  ruffians,  who  scattered  about  the 
bones  of  the  royal  favorite.  Those  ingenious  persons  who  have 
persuaded  themselves  that  that  insane  revolution  was  an  out- 
burst of  the  indignation  of  a  virtuous  people  against  the  vices 
of  kings  and  queens,  and  who  find  in  every  brutality  of  that 
period  a  proof  of  the  sincere  love  of  goodness  by  which  its 
perpetrators  were  actuated,  will  be  able  to  attribute  this 
atrocity  to  the  reverence  which  the  revolutionists  felt  for  that 
virtue  in  which  poor  Agnes  was  specially  deficient. 

Charles  lamented  the  death  of  Agnes  with  unaffected  grief. 
He  survived  her  seven  years.  Out  of  his  affectionate  memory 
for  the  aunt  he  immediately  made  her  niece  (others  say  her 
cousin,)  Madame  de  Villequier,  his  next  chief  mistress ;  but 
the  greatness  of  his  sorrow  required  the  consolation  of  a  whole 
seraglio. 

Mezerai  is  bitterly  sarcastic  on  the  grief  of  this  bespotted 
voluptuary.  "In  1449,"  says  the  historian,  "  wThen  the  king 
was  at  Jumieges,  they  poisoned  for  him  his  dear  Agnes  Sorel, 
without  whom  he  could  not  live  a  moment.  To  console  him, 
Antoinette  de  Maignelais,  lady  of  Villequier,  the  cousin  of 
the  deceased,  took  her  place ;  but  she  was  not  alone.  This 
voluptuous  monarch  set  himself  to  keep  a  great  number  of 
beautiful  girls,  at  least  for  the  pleasure  of  his  eyes."  After 
the  lady  of  Villequier  came  another  who  wTas  called,  probably 
from  her  imperiousness,  or  her  control  over  the  kingdom,  Mad 


AGNES    SOREL.  233 

ame  la  Regente,  and  who  is  celebrated  for  her  extreme  regard 
to  decorum ;  and  fourthly,  and  lastly,  the  daughter  of  a  pas- 
try-cook came  into  favor.  She  is  known  in  history  as  Madame 
des  Chaperons — the  lady  of  hoods  ;  "  because,"  says  Chaste- 
lain,  "  of  all  women  in  the  world,  she  it  was  who  best  put  on 
her  hood." 

It  has  been  noticed  that  Chastelain  blames  Agnes  Sorel  for 
introducing  the  open  dress  which  he  condemns.  The  censure, 
in  all  likelihood,  is  bestowed  at  random.  The  same  charge  has 
been  brought  by  various  historians  against  Isabella  of  Bavaria, 
the  wife  of  Charles  VI.,  famed  for  the  fairness  of  her  com- 
plexion and  the  foulness  of  her  soul,  and  who  died  about  the 
time  that  Agnes  Sorel  became  known  at  court.  The  fashion 
which  Chastelain  inveighs  against  has  in  Europe,  where  fash- 
ions are  not  eternal,  been  going  out  and  coming  in  at  intervals, 
according  to  accidental  circumstances,  since  the  first  time  that 
women  fell  into  the  habit  of  wearing  clothes  at  all.  The  loose 
open  dress  would  become  general  when  those  women  in  whose 
hands  was  the  control  of  the  taste  of  their  sex  conceived,  as 
Isabella  of  Bavaria  it  is  well  known  did,  that  they  had  every- 
thing to  gain  by  the  freest  exposure  of  their  perfections ;  and 
it  would  become  more  close  when  the  rulers  of  fashion  fan- 
cied, as  it  is  said  Madame  de  Maintenon  did,  that  it  was  for 
their  advantage  to  place  more  reliance  on  the  imagination 
than  on  the  eyes  of  their  admirers.  Nearly  a  century  before 
Isabella  of  Bavaria  is  said  to  have  invented  the  anathematised 
costume,  the  censure  of  Dante  had  immortalised  the  low  dress 
of  the  women  of  Florence,  whom  the  great  poet  foolishly 
calls  impudent,  because  they  did  not  choose  to  fashion  the  fronts 
of  their  gowns  according  to  his  taste.*     These  censurers  mis- 

*  Dante,  "  Divina  Commedia,"  Purgat.  xxin,  98  : 

"  Tempo  future-  m'  e  gia  nel  cospetto 

Cui  sara  quest'  ora  molto  antica 

Nel  qual  sara  in  pergamo  interdetto 

Alle  sfacciate  donne  Florentine 

L'  andar  mostrando  colle  poppeil  petto." 


234  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

take  matters  of  mere  convention  for  matters  of  the  essence  of 
morality,  and  always  take  care  to  denounce  the  reigning 
fashion,  whatever  it  be,  as  immoral. 

Tertullian  and  Chrysostom  direct  all  decent  women  to  veil 
their  faces.  Poppsea  veiled  her  face,  but  abated  nothing  of 
her  profligacy.  Tertullian  takes  it  upon  him  to  declare  that 
it  is  the  revealed  will  of  Heaven  that  a  woman  should  wear  a 
veil,  and  also  that  this  veil  should  cover  her  person  from  the 
bead  to  the  loins  ;  this  is  the  dimension  w7hich  he  says  an  angel 
of  heaven  revealed  to  a  holy  sister  of  his  acquaintance.  The 
African  father's  notions  were  those  of  his  country,  and  he 
has  expressly  praised  the  Arab  women  for  covering  the  whole 
face  except  one  eye ;  "  content  to  enjoy  half  the  light  rather 
than  prostitute  the  whole  face."*  Yet  unlawful  love  does  not 
rage  so  furiously,  in  countries  where  women  expose  their  faces 
and  persons  with  the  greatest  freedom,  as  it  does  where  they 
are  closely  veiled.  In  many  countries,  close  dressing  is  the 
ensign  of  those  women  who  put  no  value  on  their  chastity 
and  the  nearest  approach  to  nudity  is  the  costume  of  the  pure 
in  heart  and  life. 

There  is  a  terrible  story  of  a  moral  Queen  of  Malabar,  who 
subjected  one  of  her  women  to  the  martyrdom  which  has  im- 
mortalised St.  Agnes,  because  she  had  dared  to  come  into  her 
presence  with  her  bosom  covered  after  the  licentious  fashion 
of  the  Europeans.  If  the  pious  Richard  Baxter  felt  called 
upon  to  write  "  A  just  and  seasonable  reprehension  of  naked 
breasts  and  shoulders,"  when  these  were  fashionable,  he  would, 
if  the  fashion  had  run  the  other  way,  have  published  "  a  just 
and  seasonable  reprehension"  of  tuckers  and  neckerchiefs,  and 
proved  them  to  his  own  satisfaction  to  be  unscriptural  and  a 
sinful  departure  from  the  simplicity  of  primitive  times. 

The  philosophy  of  the  whole  matter  is  this,  that  such 
women  as  Isabella  of  Bavaria  would  not  be  more  modest  in 

*  Tertullian,  ••  De  Velatis  Virginibus,"  c.  16,  Opera,  torn,  i,  182. 


AGNES     SOREL.  235 

one  dress  than  in  another ;  and  that  singularity  in  dress  is 
more  immodest  than  any  dress  whatever,  which  has  ever 
become  general,  can  be.  The  rule  for  gowns  and  fashions  is 
the  same  as  that  for  words  and  expressions — 

"  Be  not  the  first  by  whom  the  new  are  tried, 
Nor  yet  the  last  to  lay  the  old  aside." 

On  this  point,  the  young  Antonia,  in  Mandeville's  curious 
dialogue,  has  all  the  reason  on  her  side,  in  opposition  to  her 
censorious  aunt.  "  Though  you  are  pleased,"  says  the  niece, 
"  to  find  fault  with  my  behavior,  I  don't  know  that  ever  I  was 
guilty  of  any  immodesty  in  my  life ;  I  don't  invent  the  fashions ; 
but  indeed  I  don't  love  to  be  pointed  at  for  affecting  singular- 
ity. I  dress  myself  as  I  see  other  young  gentlewomen  do  ; 
my  stays  are  not  cut  lower  than  other  people's." 

This  is  the  moral  of  the  case  ;  and  what  follows  is  equally 
good.  "  Women,  in  strictness,"  says  Aunt  Lucinda,  "  should 
never  appear  in  public  but  veiled ;  at  least,  young  women 
should  never  show  their  faces  but  to  their  nearest  relations." 

To  this  Turkish  doctrine  of  the  old  lady,  the  reply  of  the 
niece  is  admirable.  "  Indeed,  aunt,  when  'tis  the  fashion  to  go 
veiled,  I  won't  stick  out,  but  I  shall  hardly  begin  first."* 

*  "  The  Virgin  Unmasked,"  p  18.     Lond.  1742. 


MES.    JANE    SHOEE 


Mrs.  Jane  Shore  is  known  to  the  present  age  by  the  suf- 
ficiently distinct  accounts  of  her  person,  handed  down  from  her 
own  time.  "  Two  or  three  poems/'  says  Michael  Drayton, 
"  written  by  sundry  men,  have  magnified  this  woman's  beauty, 
whom  that  ornament  of  England,  and  London's  more  particu- 
lar glory,  Sir  Thomas  More,  very  highly  hath  praised  for  her 
beauty,  she  being  alive  in  his  time,  though  very  poor  and 
aged.  Her  stature  was  mean,  her  hair  of  a  dark  yellow,  her 
face  round  and  full,  her  eye  grey,  delicate  harmony  betwixt 
each  part's  proportion,  and  each  proportion's  color;  her  body 
fat,  white,  and  smooth,  her  countenance  cheerful,  and  like  to 
her  condition.  That  picture  which  I  have  seen  of  her,  was 
such  as  she  rose  out  of  bed  in  the  morning,  having  nothing  on 
but  a  rich  mantle,  cast  under  one  arm  on  her  shoulders,  and 
sitting  on  a  chair,  on  which  her  naked  arm  did  lie."* 

Sir  Thomas  More,  whose  account  of  Mrs.  Shore,  in  her 

*  "  England's  Heroical  Epistles."  "  The  greater  part  of  this  passage, 
as  well  as  the  extracts  from  Sir  Thomas  More  afterwards  given,  are 
appended  by  Bishop  Percy  to  his  ■  Ballad  of  Jane  Shore.'  " — Reltques 
of  Ancient  English  Poetry,  vol.  n,  p.  190.     Lond.  1846. 

(236) 


MRS.    JANE    SHORE.  237 

extreme  old  age,  I  shall  afterwards  quote,  gives  us  a  fine  pic- 
ture of  her  doing  public  penance  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
walking  in  a  procession  in  a  white  sheet,  and  with  a  taper  in 
her  hand,  before  the  cross.  He  says,  "She  went  so  fair  and 
lovely,  namely,  while  the  wondering  of  the  people  cast  a  love- 
ly rud  in  her  chekes  (of  which  she  before  had  much  misse,) 
that  her  great  shame  won  her  much  praise  among  those  that 
were  more  amorous  of  her  body,  than  curious  of  her  soule." 
Sir  Thomas  says  there  was  "  nothing  in  her  body  that  you 
would  have  changed,  but  if  you  had  wished  her  somewhat 
higher." 

Such  was  Mrs.  Shore,  when  she  attracted  the  love  of  Ed- 
ward IV.,  the  handsomest  prince  of  his  time. 

In  the  picture-gallery  at  Hampton  Court,  there  is  a  picture 
of  Jane  Shore,  in  which  it  is  impossible  to  trace  a  particle  of 
beauty.  Over  her  head  is  the  inscription:  "  Baker's  wife,  mis- 
tris  to  a  King."     Jane  Shore  was  a  goldsmith's  wife. 

In  the  common  histories  of  her,  there  is  an  attempt  to  allevi- 
ate her  guilt,  by  representing  her  as  having  been  married 
against  her  inclination,  by  her  parents,  when  she  was  eighteen, 
and  Mathew  Shore  thirty ;  and  for  her  benefit,  the  romance 
tells  us  that  he  was  ill-favored,  mean-looking,  and  strongly 
marked  with  small-pox.  In  direct  opposition  to  this  testimony, 
we  have  the  statement  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  which  I  think 
must  be  received,  that  the  unfortunate  goldsmith  was  "  young 
and  goodly,  and  of  good  substance."  And  Michael  Drayton, 
no  doubt  well-informed  on  the  subject,  though  not  a  contem- 
porary, tells  us  that  he  was  a  "  young  man  of  right  goodly 
person." 

It  is  but  justice  to  Jane  Shore  to  receive  without  hesitation 
or  qualification  the  uncontradicted  testimony  of  Sir  Thomas 
More,  as  to  the  use  which  she  made  of  her  influence  with  the 
king.     Archbishop  Tennyson,  a  prelate  of  irreproachable  life, 


238  CLASSIC   AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

did  not  shrink  from  publicly  speaking  of  the  virtues  of  Nell 
Gwynne  ;  and  Jane  Shore,  more  guilty  than  the  poor  orange 
girl,  has  been  fortunate  in  receiving  a  eulogium  from  such  a 
man  as  Sir  Thomas  More. 

According  to  More,  Jane  Shore  was  the  only  one  of  his 
mistresses  whom  the  king  loved,  and  "  whose  favor,  to  say  the 
truth — for  sin  it  were  to  belie  the  devil — she  never  abused  to 
any  man's  hurt,  but 'to  many  a  man's  comfort  and  relief. 
Where  the  king  took  displeasure,  she  would  mitigate  and 
appease  his  mind;  where  men  were  out  of  favor,  she  would 
bring  them  in  his  grace ;  for  many  that  had  highly  offended, 
she  obtained  pardon ;  of  great  forfeitures,  she  obtained  remis- 
sion ;  and  finally,  in  many  weighty  suits,  she  stood  many  men 
in  great  stead,  either  for  none  or  very  small  rewards,  and 
those  rather  gay  than  rich ;  either  for  that  she  was  content 
with  the  deed  itself  well  done,  or  for  that  she  delighted  to  be 
sued  unto,  and  to  show  what  she  was  able  to  do  with  the  king, 
or  for  that  wanton  woman  and  wealthy  be  not  always 
covetous." 

"We  are  the  more  impressed  with  Jane  Shore's  merit  in 
these  matters  when  we  recollect  that  the  throne  of  England  was 
never  filled  by  a  more  selfish,  heartless,  and  cruel  wretch  than 
her  lover.  Of  the  beauty  of  Jane  Shore  in  her  youth  there  is 
no  room  to  doubt.  But  she  survived  her  charms.  Alas ! 
"  age  that  gives  whiteness  to  the  swan,  gives  it  not  unto 
woman."  Sir  Thomas  More,  writing  in  1513,  thirty  years 
after  the  death  of  King  Edward,  tells  us  that  there  were  peo- 
ple who  "  deemed  her  never  to  have  been  well  visaged ;  whose 
judgment,"  he  adds,  pathetically,  "  seemeth  to  me  somewhat 
like  as  though  men  should  guesse  the  beauty  of  one  long 
before  departed,  by  the  scalp  taken  out  of  the  charnel-house ; 
for  now  she  is  old,  lene,  withered,  and  dried  up,  nothing  left 
but  ryvilde  skin  and  hard  bone.     And  yet  being  even  such, 


MRS.    JANE    SHORE.  239 

wboso  will  advise  her  visage  might  gesse  and  devise  which 
partes  how  filled  would  make  it  a  fair  face.'.' 

The  little  fat  and  fair  young  woman  when  old,  thin,  and 
withered,  and  her  golden  locks  exchanged  for  grey  and  scanty 
hairs,  her  queenly  ornaments  for  the  weeds  of  poverty,  and 
her  joyous  spirit  for  pining  melancholy,  was  not  likely  to 
retain  much  of  the  charms  which  once  distinguished  her.  In 
fact,  Jane  Shore's  style  of  beauty,  fascinating  while  it  lasts, 
rapidly  passes  into  decay.  We  have  seen  that  yellow  hair, 
both  by  the  ancients  and  moderns,  has  been  considered  the 
ornament  of  youth ;  it  never  indeed,  or  very  rarely,  remains  to 
adorn  advanced  years.  The  comparison  between  Jane  Shore 
of  1483,  and  the  Jane  Shore  of  1513,  as  furnished  between 
Drayton  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  is  a  powerful  sermon  on  the 
instability  of  worldly  grandeur  and  the  frailty  of  human  beauty. 
There  is  a  sonnet  in  a  fine  spirit  addressed  to  such  a  beauty  as 
Mrs.  Shore  was  in  the  days  when  her  beauty  lost  her  her  virtue, 
by  an  Italian  poet,  Antonio  Tibaldeo,  which  is  so  pretty,  that 
its  insertion  here  will  not  be  deemed  out  of  place. 

"Non  saranno  i  capei  sempre  d'or  fino 

Non  saran'  sempre  perle  i  bianchi  denti, 

Non  sempre  avran  splendor  gli  occhi  tuo'  ardenti 
Ne  sempre  rose  il  bel  volto  divino. 
Bellezza  e  come  i  fior'  che  nel  mattino 

Son  Freschi  e  vaghi,  e  poi  la  sera  spenti ; 

Ne  noi  ci  renoviam,  come  i  serpenti, 
Che  nati  son  sotto  miglior  destino. 
Deh  muta  ormai  questi  co3tumi  altieri 

Che  i  giorni  corron  piu  che  cervi  e  pardi, 
E  stolta  sei,  se  sempre  durar  speri. 

Manca  ogni  cosa,  e  nel  specchio  guardi, 
Vedrai  che  non  se'  quale  fosti  jeri 

Pero  provedi  a  non  pentirti  tardi." 


LUCREZIA    BORGIA. 


In  speaking  of  the  celebrated  picture  of  Titian,  in  which  the 
famous,  or  as  vulgar  opinion  says,  the  infamous  Lucrezia 
Borgia  is  introduced  as  presented  to  her  husband  by  the 
Madonna,  Mrs.  Jameson  says  :  u  I  looked  in  vain  in  the  coun- 
tenance of  Lucrezia  for  some  trace,  some  testimony  of  the 
crimes  imputed  to  her ;  but  she  is  a  fair,  golden-haired,  gentle- 
looking  creature,  with  a  feeble  and  vapid  expression."* 

There  certainly  are  instances  of  persons  whose  looks  have 
betrayed  nothing  of  the  vigor,  energy,  and  strong  passions  of 
their  nature.  Thus  of  the  ferocious  ruffian  Graham  of  Claver- 
house,  Sir  Walter  Scott  tells  us  that  he  had  "  a  beautiful  and 
melancholy  visage,  worthy  of  the  most  pathetic  dreams  of 
romance;"  and  Lord  Byron  says  that  the  cruel  Ali  Pacha  was 
"  mildest-looking  gentleman"  that  he  ever  saw.  The  gentle, 
childish-looking  Couthon  was  unquestionably  one  of  the  most 
ferocious  monsters  of  the  French  Revolution  ;  and  when  he 
was  carried  to  the  tribune,  as  he  was  required  to  be  on  account 
of  his  extreme  bodily  weakness,  his  soft,  mild  voice  was  ever 
lifted  up  in  calling  for  more  cruel  bloodshed,  and  more  sweep- 
ing slaughters. 

*  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  Visits  and  Sketches,"  vol.  n,  p.  120. 

(240) 


LUCREZIA    BORGIA.  241 

As  a  general  rule,  however — and  it  is  a  rule  which  guides 
us  every  day  in  life,  and  guides  us  with  safety — when  furious, 
and  cruel,  and  treacherous  passions  live  in  the  heart,  they  are 
to  be  traced  in  manhood  in  the  lineaments  of  the  face.  The 
personal  description  of  the  stalwart  Cataline,  his  pallid  com- 
plexion, his  unpleasant,  unhealthy  eye,*  his  walk  sometimes 
rapid,  at  other  times  slow,  and  the  frenzy  in  his  face  and  fea- 
tures, as  noticed  by  Sallust,  a  great  painter,  is  familiar  to  all 
readers.  Fuzeli  used  to  decline  the  company  of  the  famous 
French  painter,  David.  David  had  a  hare  lip ;  but  it  was  not 
this  innocent  disfigurement  which  displeased  Fuzeli.  He  said, 
that  when  he  looked  at  the  French  artist,  he  could  never  divest 
his  mind  of  the  atrocities  of  the  French  Revolution,  nor  separ- 
ate them  from  the  part  he  had  acted  in  them,  for  they  were 
stamped  on  his  countenance.! 

On  the  whole,  in  judging  of  the  nature  of  our  fellow- creatures 
at  first  sight,  an  observer  with  his  own  heart  and  feelings  as 
they  ought  to  be,  will  very  rarely  be  far  deceived  by  confiding 
in  that  natural  skill  in  physiognomy  with  which  we  all  come 
into  the  world.  "  Heaven,"  as  some  one  says,  "  is  not  in  the 
way  of  hanging  out  false  colors."  The  face  is  a  book  in  which 
the  innocent  and  the  good  may  every  day  read  lessons  of  cau- 
tion and  aversion  for  their  guidance,  protection  and  defence, 

and  find 

**  How  surer  than  suspicion's  thousand  eyes 

Is  that  fine  sense  which  to  the  pure  in  heart, 

By  mere  repugnancy  of  their  own  goodness, 

Reveals  the  approach  of  evil." 

I  do  not  believe  that  an  authentic  instance  can  be  quoted  of 
a  thoroughly  good  man  with  a  sinister  expression  of  counten- 

*  It  is  not  easy  to  translate  the  expression  fasdi  oculi  (Sallust  "  Cata- 
lina,"  c.  xv ;)  but  an  unhealthy-looking  eye  is  strikingly  descriptive  of 
great  criminals. 

t  Knowles,  "  Life  and  "Works  of  Fuzeli,"  vol.  i,  p.  258. 
11 


242  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

ance,  though  it  would  appear  that  there  have  been  bad  men 
with  pleasing  features  ;  though  I  suspect  a  good  eye  would 
have  detected  a  serpent  like  beauty  in  those  of  them  who  were 
decidedly  aud  deliberately  wicked.  The  world  does  not  put 
any  faith  in  that  professional  physiognomist  who  denounced 
Socrates  as  a  vicious  man  ;  we  merely  believe  that  his  features 
were  rude  and  inelegant  in  the  extreme. 

There  is  scarcely  a  man  amongst  all  the  good,  great,  and 
wise  men  of  antiquity  whom  it  would  be  safe  to  prefer  to  Pho- 
cion — to  honest,  wise,  and  witty  Phocion.  There  was  a  beau- 
tiful balance  of  the  moral  and  intellectual  gifts  in  this  man. 
He  was  the  sagest  of  his  times ;  and  of  all  the  ancients  he  was, 
perhaps,  as  his  recorded  sayings  amply  attest,  the  wittiest. 
His  great  moral  virtues  were  rigid  honesty,  a  passionate  at- 
tachment to  truth,  and  great  kindness  of  disposition.  Yet  of 
this  admirable  man,  Plutarch  tells  us — and  he  evidently  speaks 
from  contemporary  statements — that  "  though  one  of  the  most 
humane  and  best-tempered  men  in  the  world,"  his  countenance 
was  severe,  ill-natured,  and  forbidding,  so  much  so  that  it 
repelled  strangers  from  addressing  him. 

This  account  also  agrees  with  an  admission  in  one  of  Pho- 
cion's  sayings,  that  his  brow  appeared  lowering.  Yet  it  is 
nowhere  stated  that  there  were  any  traces  of  cunning,  of  dis- 
simulation, or  of  sycophancy  in  this  rough  face.  I  think  no 
more  can  be  made  of  this  narrative  than  that  Phocion,  like 
many  other  good  men,  was  "  no  beauty" — no  Alcibiades,  nor 
Xenophon,  nor  Critias.  And  nowhere  in  this  world  would  the 
want  of  fine  features  in  a  ruler  or  general  be  criticised  with 
more  exaggeration  of  severity  than  in  Athens — Atheus,  which 
though  deficient  in  beautiful  women,  boasted  above  ail  the 
states  of  Greece  of  her  beautiful  men.* 

*  See  the  very  curious  dissertation  of  M.  de  Pauw,  "  de  la  Constitution 
physique  des  Athenians,"  in  his  "  Researches  Philosophiques  sur  les 
Grecs,"  torn.  1,  p.  107.     Berlin,  1787. 


LUCREZIA    BORGIA.  243 

On  this  point,  however,  it  is  to  be  observed  that,  in  general, 
the  vices  and  the  real  character,  where  it  is  bad,  are  more 
easily  to  be  read  in  the  faces  of  men  than  of  women,  owing, 
no  doubt,  to  the  greater  shallowness  and  simplicity  of  the 
manly  nature,  and  to  the  greater  power  which,  in  protection 
of  their  inferior  physical  strength,  nature  has  given  to  women 
in  controlling  and  concealing  the  outward  expression  of  the 
passions  which  rage,  and  the  fires  which  burn  in  their  hearts 
and  their  brains.  A  woman  certainly  is  no  more  to  be  blamed 
for  having  more  art  in  her  nature,  and  more  wisdom  in  her 
daily  contrivances  than  a  man,  than  a  fox  is  to  be  censured 
for  having  about  him  more  cunning  and  wiles  than  a  lion. 

The  face  of  the  man  of  middle  age,  whose  breast  has,  for  a 
life-time,  been  agitated  by  violent  passions,  will  not  be  un- 
wrinkled ;  and  the  habitual  tone  of  his  voice,  though  he  may 
strive  to  modulate  it  to  serve  his  purposes,  will  have  acquired 
something,  at  least,  of  a  harshness  which  once  did  not  belong- 
to  it.  But  it  is  not  uncommon  to  meet  with  a  woman  who 
has  passed  through  a  painful  career  of  crimes  and  passions,  of 
agony  and  grief,  still  speaking  with  the  sweet  voice  which  en- 
chanted the  listener  in  the  days  of  her  innocence  and  happi- 
ness, still  wearing  the  composed  features,  the  "  cheek  unpro- 
faned  by  a  tear,"  which  might  be  thought  to  betoken  days  spent 
wholly  in  the  indolent  enjoyment  of  pleasure,  and  with  a  brow 
still  perfectly  smooth  ;  as  smooth,  indeed,  as  the  ocean  in  a 
calm — that  same  ocean  which,  a  few  hours  before,  has  torn  to 
pieces  in  its  fury,  and  engulphed  in  its  never  satiated  jaws, 
noble  fleets,  of  which  not  a  trace  can  now  be  found  on  its 
bosom — that  calm  bosom  w7hich  invites  the  disconsolate  to  rest 
upon  it,  and  there  find  peace  to  their  troubled  hearts. 

The  reader  who  believes  all  that  is  recorded  of  the  crimes 
of  Lucrezia,  and  looks  to  the  portrait  of  her  as  described  by 
Mrs.  Jameson,  even  after  he  makes  allowance  for  some  sweet- 
ness which  the  great  art  of  Titian  may  have  added  to  it,  has  a 
striking  illustration  of  these  remarks  and  is  compelled  to  con- 


244  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

fess  that  this  is  not  the  woman  that  he  looked  for.  Even  he, 
who  charitably  and  better  instructed,  can  find  no  good  evi- 
dence of  the  more  dreadful  and  more  disgusting  crimes  attri- 
buted to  Lucrezia,  must  still  look  for  something  harsh,  distract- 
ed, or  melancholy  in  the  face  of  the  woman  who  was  tho 
daughter  of  Alexander,  and  the  sister  of  Caesar  Borgia,  who 
had  been  brought  up  and  had  lived  so  much  amidst  scenes  of 
infamy,  and  witnessed,  as  she  must  have  witnessed,  so  much 
of  habitual,  and  daily,  and  revolting  wickedness.  But  less  flat- 
tering describers  than  Titian  have  testified  that  the  traces  nei- 
ther of  sin  nor  of  sorrow  were  to  be  found  in  her  fair  face. 

Lucrezia,  however,  notwithstanding  the  lustre  thrown 
around  her  by  the  pencil  of  the  painter  and  the  verses  of  a 
poet  she  patronised,  was  not  exactly  a  beauty.  The  contrast 
between  the  fair  golden  hair  and  black  eyes,  given  to  her  by  the 
great  artist,  is  always  striking,  as  in  nature  it  is  extremely 
rare.  In  picture  galleries  all  the  celebrated  Italian  women  of 
Lucrezia's  time  appear  with  this  fascinating  half-flaxen,  half- 
golden  hair  which  painters  give  to  their.  Venuses  and  other 
ideal  beauties.  It  may  hence  be  doubted  if  the  charming  color 
of  Lucrezia's  hair  was  not  the  production  of  her  own  skill, 
though  in  bare  justice,  we  must  give  a  woman  full  credit 
for  all  the  beauty  with  which  she  can  array  herself,  and  judge 
of  her  as  she  appears  at  her  best,  in  fair  reward  of  the  amiable 
desire  to  please  which  leads  to  the  use  and  perfection  of  the 
cosmetic  science. 

The  wrorld  of  antiquity  allowed  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven  her- 
self all  the  graces  and  witchcrafts  which  she  could  derive  from 
placing  the  celestial  girdle  around  her  waist ;  and  no  earthly 
woman  deserves  either  commendation  or  thanks  for  being  less 
beautiful  than  she  might  be  if  she  liked.  On  the  matter- 
of  fact,  as  to  whether  the  hair  of  Lucrezia  was  by  nature  or 
only  by  art  golden,  there  is,  I  believe,  no  evidence.  For  the 
rest  of  her  features  and  person,  between  the  favorable  eulo- 
gium  of  an  Italian  poet  and  the  more  specific  criticism  of  a 


LUCREZIA   BORGIA.  245 

German  prose  writer,  agreeing  together  in  substance,  as  praise 
and  censure  often  do,  and  taking  these  two  descriptions  along 
with  her  portraits,  we  learn  pretty  accurately  what  this  famous 
woman  was  like.  Her  eyes  were  black  and  piercing,  and  her 
luxuriant  hair  fell  in  profusion  over  her  shoulders.  She  had  it 
tied  tastefully  with  a  black  band.  Her  figure  was  large,  and 
it  had  the  great  fault  of  exhibiting  something  like  a  masculine 
vigor  in  it.  Her  features  were  far  from  being  regular.  Her 
forehead  was  indeed  comely  and  well  shaped,  but  her  nose  was 
loug  and  slender ;  her  lips  were  deficient  in  fullness,  and  the 
lower  part  of  her  face  was  retreating.  Such  is  the  picture  which 
is  compounded  out  of  the  materials  furnished  by  Strozzi  and 
Burckhardt,  as  they  are  quoted  by  M.  Chasles.* 

Leigh  Hunt,  in  one  of  his  essays  on  female  beauty,  assures 
us,  on  the  evidence  of  his  own  eyes,  that  the  hair  of  Lucrezia 
was  of  that  color  which  is  justly  and  properly  called  golden. 
Mr.  Hunt  was  in  possession  of  an  interesting  and  affecting  relic 
of  mortality — a  solitary  hair  of  this  famous  woman's  head.  "  It 
was  given  us,"  he  says,  "  by  a  lamented  friend  (Lord  Byron,)  who 
obtained  it  from  a  lock  of  her  hair  preserved  in  the  Ambrosian 
Library,  at  Milan.  On  the  envelope  he  put  a  happy  motto,  '  and 
beauty  draws  us  with  a  single  hair.'  If  ever  hair  was  golden  it  is 
this.  It  is  not  red,  it  is  not  yellow,  it  is  not  auburn ;  it  is  gol- 
den and  nothing  else;  and  though  natural-looking  too,  must 
have  had  a  surprising  appearance  in  the  mass.  Lucrezia,  beauti- 
ful in  every  respect,  must  have  looked  like  a  vision  in  a  picture, 
an  angel  from  the  sun.  Every  body  who  sees  it,  cries  out  and 
pronounces  it  the  real  thing. 

"  We  must  confess,  after  all,  we  prefer  the  auburn,  as  we 
construe  it.  It  forms,  we  think,  a  finer  shade  for  the  skin,  a 
richer  warmth,  a  darker  lustre.  But  Lucrezia's  hair  must  have 
been  still  divine.  Mr.  Lander,  whom  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  over  it,  as  other  acquaintances  com- 

*  M.  Philarete  Chasles,  "  Etudes  sur  le  Moyen  Age,"  p.  409. 


246  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC  ,  PORTRAITS. 

mence  over  a  bottle,  was  inspired  on  this  occasion  with  the 

following  verses  : — 

"  Borgia,  thou  once  wert  almost  too  august 
And  high  for  adoration ;  now  thou'rt  dust ; 
All  that  remains  of  thee  these  plaits  unfold, 
Calm  hair  meandering  with  pellucid  gold." 

"  The  sentiment,"  continues  Mr.  Hunt,  "  implied  in  the  last 
line  will  be  echoed  by  every  bosom  that  has  worn  a  lock  of 
hair  next  it,  or  longed  to  do  so.  Hair  is  at  once  the  most  deli- 
cate and  lasting  of  our  materials,  and  survives  us  like  love. 
It  is  so  light,  so  gentle,  so  escaping  from  the  idea  of  death,  that 
with  a  lock  of  hair  belonging  to  a  child  or  a  friend,  we  may 
almost  look  up  to  heaven  and  compare  notes  with  the  angelic 
nature ;  may  almost  say  ,  '  I  have  a  piece  of  thee  here,  not  un- 
worthy of  thy  being  now.'  "* 

This  is  a  very  learned  and  exquisitely  fine  and  tender  dis- 
course on  hair.  As  regards  the  great  beauty  which  Leigh 
Hunt  attributes  to  Lucrezia,  I  must  say  that,  although  it  may 
be  quite  safe  and  perfectly  logical  to  judge  of  the  stature  of 
Hercules  by  his  foot;  and  though  both  ancient  history  and  a 
beautiful  modern  fairy  tale  join  in  informing  us  that  a  man  of 
susceptible  feelings  is  able  to  fall  in  love  with  a  woman  at  the 
bare  sight  of  one  of  her  slippers,  it  yet  appears  like  the  sub- 
lime of  gallant  rapture  to  discover,  from  the  inspection  of  a 
single  hair  from  that  large  flowing  mass — and  in  hair,  mere 
length  and  quantity  are  undoubtedly  great  beauties — which 
once  adorned  the  head  of  Lucrezia  Borgia,  that  her  large  and 
tall  person  was  "  beautiful  .in  every  respect." 

A  cold-hearted  sneerer  may  think  that  Leigh  Hunt  and 
Walter  Savage  Landor  more  than  came  up  to  a  parallel  with 
the  man  immortalised  by  Hierocles,  the  Joe  Miller  of  the 
ancients,  who,  having  a  house  for  sale,  went  about  amongst 
the  public,  carrying  a  brick  in  his  pocket  as  a  specimen.     The 

*  Leigh  Hunt,  "Men,  Women,  and  Books,"  vol.  1,  p  240. 


LUCREZIA     BORGIA.  247 

single  brick  would  at  least  show  of  what  materials  the  man's 
house  was  constructed;  but  the  single  hair,  besides  that  it 
might  be  dyed,  might  be  a  selected  hair.  For  there  is  one 
peculiarly  bewitching  sort  of  hair  which  Leigh  Hunt  has  un- 
fortunately omitted  to  commemorate  and  laud  in  his  catalogue 
though  it  is  capable  of  competing  for  victory  with  the  very 
finest  and  rarest.  This  consists  of  soft  auburn  locks,  inter- 
mingled here  and  there  with  bright  golden  hairs.  This  kind 
of  hair,  which  is  extremely  difficult  to  find,  will  do  much  for 
a  woman's  head  which  has  nothing  else,  externally  or  inter- 
nally, to  recommend  it  to  admiration  or  love. 

The  character  of  Lucrezia  Borgia  has  labored  with  the  mass 
of  readers,  from  her  own  day  to  ours,  under  terrible  stains ; 
but  she  has  not  wanted  her  defenders,  and  even  eulogisers. 
The  greater  part  of  her  life  appears,  in  wicked  times  and  in 
wicked  places,  to  have  been  passed  in  all  outward  decorum, 
decency  and  dignity.  Eanke  quotes  from  a  contemporary 
report  of  the  Ambassador  of  Venice  to  the  Court  of  Koine,  a 
passage  about  Lucrezia,  in  which  she  is  called  "  wise  and  lib- 
eral ;"  and  as  her  great  natural  abilities  and  talents  have  not 
been  questioned,  she  is,  taking  her  at  the  worst  estimate  that 
has  been  formed  of  her,  entitled  to  this  eulogium.  Her  per- 
sonal beauty  and  her  moral  character  have  both  gained  some- 
thing with  posterity  by  her  generous  patronage  of  literature, 
and  particularly  of  poetry ;  for  a  poet  who  knows  his  craft, 
will  praise  anything  or  anybody,  if  he  is  well  paid  for  his 
panegyric.  It  is  more  to  her  true  glory,  that  her  counsel,  her 
influence,  and  the  free  use  of  her  purse,  were  all  given  to  the 
establishment  and  diffusion  of  the  art  of  printing  in  Italy. 

There  wras  wisdom,  as  well  as  liberality  and  enlightenment 
in  this.  The  patronage  of  printing,  which  in  the  long  run, 
says  M.  Chasles,  corrects  its  own  errors,  was  a  far  more  une- 
quivocal proof  of  her  real  liberality,  than  the  giving  of  pen- 
sions to  sycophantic  court  poets. 


248  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

She  knew,  however,  what  Virgil  and  Horace  had  done  for 
Augustus;  and  there  was  something  good  in  her  desire  that 
both  her  soul  and  her  body  should  appear  as  fair  and  bright 
as  possible  in  the  eyes  of  a  merciful  posterity.  She  knew 
what  liberality  to  men  of  letters  had  done  for  other  famous 
women.  She  knew  that  canonised  saints  of  the  Church  and 
grave  bishops  had  praised  the  Christian  virtues  and  piety  of 
Brunehilde,  "the  murderess  of  seven  kings;"  and  Lucrezia's 
liberality  was  as  great,  and  her  guilt  certainly  not  so  great,  as 
that  of  the  ancient  Frank  queen.  Though  Mr.  Eoscoe's 
defence  of  the  perfect  innocence  of  Lucrezia  may  not  be  wholly 
satisfactory,  still  there  is  room  left  for  disbelieving  the  more 
revolting  charges  wrhich  have  been  heaped  on  the  memory  of 
this  woman. 

If,  however,  the  extreme  guilt  and  the  extreme  beauty  of 
Lucrezia  are  questionable,  the  atrocious  crimes  and  the  singu- 
lar beauty  of  her  brother,  Caesar  Borgia,  are  not  in  the  least 
doubtful.  Contemporary  history  declares  that  this  horrible 
monster,  who  in  a  Christian  age  and  country,  renewed  by  his 
crimes  the  memory  of  the  Koman  Commodus,  whom  he  resem- 
bled in  strength  and  personal  attractions,  was  the  most  beau- 
tiful young  man  in  the  world  ;  comparing  him  in  this  respect 
with  Ferdinand,  King  of  Naples,  celebrated  at  that  time  for 
his  great  personal  comeliness,  and  giving  the  preference  to 
Borgia.  He  was  an  Achilles,  tall  and  graceful  in  person,  and 
beautiful  in  the  face,  and,  like  Achilles,  of  prodigious  strength 
— a  Hercules  and  Adonis  united.  Yet  it  must  be  doubted  if 
his  face  could  have  any  of  that  moral  beauty,  which  appears 
m  the  countenances  of  men  who  get  no  credit  for  comeliness, 
though  Borgia  might  present  a  beauty  nothing  less 'than  that 
of  u  archangel  ruined." 

Pope  has  adopted  the  name  of  this  monster  as  descriptive 
of  the  height  of  incarnate  wickedness;  and  I  am  afraid  that 
the  name  of  Borgia,  borne  by  the  father  Alexander  and  the 


LUCHEZIA   BOKGIA.  249 

brother  Csesar,  has  an  air  of  blood,  of  poison  and  sensuality 
about  it,  which  throws  a  black  cloud  of  prejudice  around  the 
memory  of  Lucrezia,  the  daughter. and  sister. 

In  the  loathing  and  horror  which  this  ver}^  name  produces, 
it  apuears  to  be  entirely  forgotten  that  in  St.  Francis  Borgia 
the  Church  of  Rome  has  canonised  a  man  of  rank  with  the  hu- 
mility of  a  true  follower  of  Him  who  was  born  in  a  manger ;  a 
saint  with  all  innocent  and  virtuous  accomplishments ;  ,a  wit 
and  a  scholar,  and  one  who  is  to  be  honored  with  Xavier  and 
Borromeo,  as  amongst  the  most  amiable  of  men. 

After  the  death  of  Lucrezia,  her  third  husband,  Duke 
Alfonzo  of  Ferrara,  married  a  poor  country  girl  of  extraordin- 
ary beauty.  All  who  have  seen  any  pictures,  are  familiar  and 
delighted  with  that  charming  portrait  by  Titian,  which  has 
been  multiplied  by  copies  more  than,  perhaps,  any  other  of  his 
works — representing  a  young  and  very  fair  woman  twining 
her  luxuriant  yellow  hair.  This  is  believed  to  be  this  peasant 
girl,  Donna  Laura,  the  second  wife  of  Alfonso. 

"Titian,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  painted  her  several  times, 
e  nuda  e  vestita.  I  have  never  seen  in  any  gallery  a  portrait 
by  Titian  recognised  as  the  portrait  of  Donna  Laura ;  but  for 
several  reasons,  on  which  I  cannot  enlarge  in  this  place,  I 
believe  the  famous  picture  in  the  Louvre  styled  '  Titian's 
Mistress,'  to  be  the  portrait  of  this  peasant  duchess."* 
*  Mrs.  Jameson,  «  Sacred  and  Legendary  Art,"  p.  341. 


IV 


ANNE     BTTLLEN, 


The  power  of  charming,  possessed  by  this  celebrated  woman, 
is  historically  established.  Her  claims  to  a  high  rank  in  pure 
physical  beauty,  have,  however,  been  disputed.  Her  perfec- 
tions in  this  way  have  been  made  the  subject  of  controversy 
— even  of  religious  controversy — the  fiercest  and  firiest  of  all 
contentions. 

Anne  Bullen,  who  lived  and  died  in  the  ancient  faith  of 
[Rome,  is,  nevertheless,  though  no  saint  in  her  own  age,  yet  in 
ours,  on  account  of  the  services  which  her  personal  charms 
rendered  to  the  Keformation,  a  woman  of  good  memory  with 
Protestants ;  as  on  the  other  hand,  and  from  the  same  cause, 
she  is  an  object  of  severe  judgment,  of  reprobation,  and  of 
calumny  with  Roman  Catholics.  If  her  beauty  did  not. create 
the  Reformation  in  England,  it  undoubtedly  hastened  its  out- 
break, and  accelerated  its  lagging  progress.  Heaven,  which 
works  its  great  and  good  ends  by  whatever  instruments  it 
thinks  proper,  made  lust  and  avarice  the  great  and  conspicuous 
promoters  of  the  purification  of  religion  in  England.  "  The 
British  Bluebeard"  was  the  leader  of  the  hosts  of  the  Reform- 
ed Faith ;  and  the  base  panderer  to  his  guilty  passion  was  its 
high  priest. 

(250) 


ANNE    BULLEN.  251 

There  will  be  found  an  agreement  in  the  main  about  the 
beauties  and  the  defects  which  were  to  be  found  in  Anne 
Bullen.  Both  Protestants  and  Roman  Catholics  are  agreed 
that  she  was  tall,  and  that  her  figure  and  limbs  were,  on  the 
whole,,  handsome ;  though  the  Roman  Catholics,  as  will  be 
seen,  censure  several  of  the  details.  Her  fine  black  hair,  her 
beautiful  black  eyes,  her  exquisitely  formed  mouth,  and  the 
elegant  oval  shape  of  her  face,  are  admitted  on  both  sides. 

Protestant  writers  have  made  it  a  point  of  faith,  an  article 
stantis  aut  cadentis  ecdesice,  to  describe  her  as  without  spot  or 
wrinkle.  The  Roman  Catholic  writers  have  found  out  about 
as  many  spots  and  wrinkles  on  her  body  as  they  have  discov- 
ered in  her  soul,  and  they  have  adhered  to  facts  in  their  unfa- 
vorable portrait.  They  tell  us  that  her  skin  was  so  yellow, 
that  she  always  looked  as  if  she  had  the  jaundice ;  and  this  is 
perfectly  true.  It  is  admitted  by  her  passionate  admirer, 
Wyat  the  poet,  while  speaking  of  her  "  rare  and  admirable 
beauty,"  "  that  her  face  was  not  so  whitely  clear  and  fresh  ;" 
in  plain  words  it  really  was  yellow,  but  it  was  beautiful  not- 
withstanding. 

The  Roman  Catholics  assure  us  also,  and  this  is  perfectly 
true,  that  one  of  her  upper  teeth  stood  out  from  the  rest. 
Then  as  to  their  exaggerated  facts.  The  Roman  Catholics 
tell  us  that  she  had  six  fingers  on  her  left  hand,  and  a  tumor 
below  her  chin.  These  superfluities'  coming  in  aid  of  her  yel- 
low face,  could  scarcely  be  said  to  make  her  "  a  dainty  dish  to 
set  before  the  king." 

But  the  Protestants  have  reduced  the  sixth  finger  on  her 
left  hand  to  something  like  an  abortive  attempt  on  the  part  of 
nature  at  a  second  little  finger,  amounting  after  all  to  nothing 
better  than  a  very  large  wart,  which,  however,  Anne  took 
great  care  to  conceal,  as  constantly  as  possible,  with  a  glove. 
As  to  the  tumor  below  the  chin,  in  Protestant  eyes  it  dwin- 
dled down,  and  sweetened  and  beautified  itself  into  a  handsome 


252  CLASSIC    AND   HISTOEIC   PORTRAITS. 

mole,  which  is  no  disfigurement,  but  rather  a  grace  to  a  woman, 
if  it  be  well  placed ;  besides  being  indicative,  as  the  voice  of 
ages  has  declared,  of  a  loving  constitution,  which  Anne  had, 
and  of  great  worldly  prosperity,  which  assuredly  she  had  not. 
To  conceal  the  wart,  or  superfluous  little  finger  on  her  left 
hand,  Anne  Bullen  introduced  the  fashion  of  hanging  sleeves. 
The  large  mole  under  her  chin  she  concealed  under  a  richly 
ornamented  collar,  which  also  became  the  fashion  amongst  the 
Court  ladies.  The  mole  is  certainly  not  to  be  seen  in  Holbein's 
portrait  of  her,  in  which  her  neck  is  bare. 

With  all  this,  the  expression  of  Anne's  features  was  sweet 
and  sprightly.  Her  bitterest  enemies  have  joined  with  her 
most  partial  friends  in  allowing  that  her  taste  in  dress,  and  in 
all  kinds  of  adorning  was  admirable,  and  that  she  displayed 
much  genius  in  striking  out  new  and  splendid  fashions.  She 
had  a  graceful  manner,  and  spoke  in  a  sweet  voice,  and  was 
highly  accomplished  in  dancing  and  singing  and  in  playing  on 
the  lute. 


DIANA    OF    POITIEES. 


Diana  of  Poitiers,  created  by  Henry  II.  of  France,  Duch- 
ess of  Valentinois,  is  one  of  the  most  famous  of  those  women, 
who  in  the  maturity  of  life  have  inspired  a  violent  passion,  and 
who  have  retained  the  power  of  charming  even  in  old  age. 
"  I  have  seen  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois,"  says  Brantome,  "  at 
the  age  of  seventy,  as  beautiful  in  the  face,  as  fresh  and  as 
amiable  as  at  the  age  of  thirty."*  Brantome  takes  care  never 
to  underrate  wonders  of  this  kind ;  Diana  was  only  sixty-seven 
at  her  death.  "  I  saw  her,"  he  says  afterwards,  "  six  months 
before  her  death,  still  so  beautiful  that  I  know  not  a  heart  so 
rocky  as  not  to  be  moved  at  the  sight  of  her,  though  before 
that  she  had  broken  her  leg  on  the  street  in  Orleans.  She  was 
managing  her  horse  as  dexterously  as  ever  she  had  done,  but 
he  slipped  and  fell  under  her.  From  the  sufferings  which  she 
endured  from  this  accident,  it  might  have  been  thought,"  he 
says,  "  that  her  beautiful  face  would  be  altered  ;  but  nothing 
was  farther  from  the  result ;  her  beauty,  her  grace,  her  majesty, 
her  fine  appearance,  were  all  the  same  as  they  ever  had  been.  I 
believe,"  he  adds,  "  if  this  lady  had  lived  a  hundred  years  she 
would  never  have  grown  old  either  in  the  face,  so  finely  was  it 
composed,  or  in  the  person,  so  good  was  her  constitution,  and 

*  Brantome,  "Dames  Galantes,"  (Euvres,  torn.  iv.  p.  179. 

(253) 


254  CLASSIC    AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

so  excellent  her  habit  of  body.    It  is  a  pity  that  the  earth  covers 
this  beautiful  body." 

Diana,  as  we  learn  from  Brantome,  had  an  extreme  whiteness 
of  skin,  "  and  that  without  painting  at  all."  Brantome  adds, 
however,  a  report  that  every  morning  she  took  some  soups  con- 
taining aurum  potabile  and  other  drugs  which  he  could  not  de- 
scribe, to  preserve  her  charms.  Such  a  woman  as  Diana  we  may 
be  sure  would  neglect  no  means  of  averting  the  appearance  of 
old  age,  and  the  means  sh,e  would  use  would  be  those  that 
would  be  least  liable  to  detection  or  suspicion.  Amongst  more 
scrupulous  women,  there  has  been  a  distinction  drawn  between 
such  arts  as  Brantome  attributes  to  Diana,  and  the  less  innocent 
practice  of  outward  painting,  a*s  it  would  be  esteemed  by  those 
who  forebore  it. 

In  a  very  curious  (<  Discourse  of  Artificial  Beauty,"  in  the 
form  of  a  dialogue  between  two  ladies,  the  one  who  advocates 
every  means  of  making  the  face  and  the  person  agreeable,  speaks 
of"  some  who  arraign  before  the  rash  tribunal  of  their  judgments 
every  face,  whose  handsomeness  they  either  envy,  if  natural,  or 
grievously  reproach,  if  they  think  it  hath  anything  artificial 
beyond  what  themselves  are  wonted  to  or  acquainted  with  ; 
who  yet  in  other  things  do  as  much  contend  against  the  defectSi 
deformities  and  decays  of  nature  and  age  as  may  be,  by  wash- 
ings, anointings  and  plasterings,  by  many  secret  medicaments 
and  close  receipts,  which  may  either  fill  and  plump  their  skins, 
if  flat  and  wrinkled,  or  smooth  and  polish  them,  if  rugged  and 
chapped,  or  clear  and  brighten  them,  if  tanned  and  freckled  ; 
only  in  the  point  of  color  or  tinctures,  added  in  the  least  kind 
or  degree,  they  are  not  more  scrupulous  than  censorious;  as  if 
every  one  that  TTsed  these  had  forsaken  Christ's  banner,  and 
now  fought  under  the  devil's  colors."* 

*  A  Discourse  of  Artificial  Beauty  in  the  Point  of  Conscience  between 
two  Ladies,    p.  2.  London,  1692. 


DIANA    OF    POITIERS.  255 

The  little  treatise  from  which  I  have  made  this  extract  is  a 
well  and  closely  reasoned  and  really  eloquent  defence  of  the 
practice  of  painting  the  face  in  order  to  add  to-its  beauty,  or  to 
conceal  the  decay  of  its  freshness,  against  the  sophistical  objec- 
tions of  puritanism  and  hypocrisy.  The  arguments  brought, 
from  Scripture  are  shown  to  be  wholly  irrelevant.  It  is  to  be 
observed  that  as  the  great  strength  of  the  puritan  argument 
against  dancing  is  the  fact  that  the  wicked  daughter  of  Herodias 
danced,  so  the  pretended  argument  from  Scripture  against 
painting  the  face  is  that  Jezebel,  like  other  women  of  her  time, 
painted  her  face,  which  be  it  observed,  should  prove  to  those 
who  are  capable  of  being  deluded  by  such  absurdities,  that  it 
is  also  unscriptural  to  tire  the  head  as  Jezebel  did,  or  even 
to  "  look  out  of  the  window,"  as  Jezebel  also  did. 

It  would  never  occur  to  such  arguers  as  these  that  it  is  a 
virtue  to  desire  to  please ;  and  that  as  a  woman  can  hardly  go 
against  the  customs  and  usages  of  her  age  and  country,  and 
be  innocent,  so  where  face  painting  and  patching  are  the 
fashion,  a  wise  man  will  not  look  for  the  best  and  most  amiable 
of  the  sex  amongst  those  who  abstain  from  what  is  forbidden 
neither  by  reason  nor  Scripture.  All  the  arguments  against 
women  using  every  art  to  heighten  and  preserve  their  charms, 
when  the  fashion  runs  in  the  direction  of  these  arts,  resolve 
themselves  into  the  hateful  belief  of  the  ascetic,  that  everything 
that  is  offensive  to  man  is  agreeable  to  Heaven,  and  the  rela- 
tive belief  that  all  that  is  agreeable  to  man  is  offensive  in  the 
sight  of  God — a  belief  which  has  characterised  all  false  reli- 
gions since  the  beginning  of  time  till  the  present  hour. 

Jezebel  was  justly  punished*  not  for  making  herself  beauti- 
ful, but  for  the  murder  of  Naboth.  Yet  Jezebel  may  be  slan- 
dered, and  they  have  slandered  her,  who  in  the  face  of  the 
taunting  language  which  she  gave  to  Jehu,  insist  upon  it  that 
her  object  in  adorning  her  person  was  to  attract  his  unlawful 
love.     From  the  whole  history  of  her  death,  it  is  the  fair  infer- 


256  CLASSIC  AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

ence  that  calmly  contemplating  the  fall  of  her  throne  and  her 
own  fate,  she  resolved  like  Cleopatra  to  die  like  a  queen,  defying 
her  enemy.  In  the  "  Discourse  of  Artificial  Beauty"  before 
quoted,  justice  is  done  to  Jezebel  as  regards  her  behavior  at 
her  death.  M  She  puts  herself  into  a  posture  of  majesty,  as 
showing  that  height  and  greatness  of  mind  which  could  own 
herself  in  the  pomp  and  splendor  of  a  princess,  even  then 
when  she  expected  her  enemy  and  her  end  ;  that  she  might  at 
least  perish  (as  she  thought)  with  the  more  reputation  of  a 
comely  person,  and  undaunted  spirit  which  abhorred  to  humble 
and  abase  itself  after  the  manner  of  fearful  and  squalid  suppli- 
ants in  sackcloth,  or  to  abate  any  of  those  accustomed  orna- 
ments with  which  she  used  as  a  queen  to  entertain  herself  in 
her  prosperity."* 

Henry  had  been  married  to  Catherine  de'  Medici  when  he 
and  his  bride  were  only  fourteen  years  of  age ;  and  he  fell  in 
love  with  Diana  when  he  was  eighteen  and  she  thirty-nine,  and 
his  love  continued  unabated  till  his  death,  when  she  was  sixty- 
seven.  It  gives  us  a  striking  idea  of  the  disparity  in  years 
between  these  lovers,  to  reflect  that  Henry  was  younger  than 
Diana's  own  children.  She  was  married  to  the  Seneschal  of 
Normandy  four  years  before  Henry  was  born,  and  had  been 
the  mother  of  two  daughters.  By  the  vulgar,  the  influence  of 
Diana  over  Henry  was  attributed  to  witchcraft ;  and  the  grave 
historian  De  Thou,  has  imputed  it  to  the  effect  of  philtres  and 
medicines.  We  need  not  believe  that  she  had  recourse  to 
either  the  chemist  or  the  apothecary,  in  order  either  to  preserve 
her  beauty  or  to  bewitch  the  king ;  but  that  she  gained  his 
love  by  the  beauty  which  is  not  unusual  in  a  Frenchwoman  of 
forty,  and  retained  it  by  the  indescribable  graces  of  manner 
and  conversation  which  make  the  inevitable  decay  of  beauty 
unobserved,  and  by  the  power  of  a  strong  mind  over  a  wreak. 

Mademoiselle  de  Luzan  makes  her  a  perfect  Poppsea  in  the 

*  "A  Discourse  of  Artificial  Beauty,"  p.  10. 


DIANA    OF    POITIERS.  257 

art  of  varying  her  attractions.  "  The  Duchess  of  Valentmois," 
she  says,  "  had  lived  long  enough  to  be  experienced  in  pleasure, 
voluptuous  by  nature,  and  attentive  in  preserving  her  conquest, 
she  every  day  devised  new  entertainments.  She  was  too 
knowing  not  to  recollect  that  at  upwards  of  forty,  she  had 
unceasingly  to  guard  the  heart  of  a  young  prince  who  was 
not  twenty-nine.  (He  was  nineteen  when  she  was  forty.)  In 
place  of  the  air  of  flowery  youth  which  was  somewhat  wanting 
in  her  beauty,  she  employed  art,  and  this  art  was  guided  by 
long  experience  in  gallantry,  by  a  mind  acute,  cunning  and 
adroit,  by  a  lively  gaiety,  or  by  a  soft  languor.  With  these 
advantages  a  woman  in  her  decline  may  preserve  her  conquest, 
but  it  is  difficult  for  her  to  make  a  new  one.  Diana  preserved 
hers  by  a  thousand  charms  of  the  mind,  happily  put  into  oper- 
ation. She  was  a  sort  of  Proteus  ;  she  knew  how  to  exhibit 
herself  to  Henry  under  a  form  always  new."* 

During  the  whole  period  of  Henry's  reign,  Diana  openly  ruled 
the  king,  and  influenced  all  the  public  affairs  of  France.  Even 
the  queen,  Catherine  de'  Medici,  with  all  her  vigor  of  mind 
and  ambition,  and  great  talents  for  business,  never  resisted  the 
will  of  the  favorite,  nor  sought  to  thwart  her  schemes. 

"  She  mixed  herself  up  with  everything,"  says  Mezerai. 
"  She  could  do  everything;  she  was,  so  to  speak,  the  soul  of 
the  king's  counsels.  And  in  order  that  it  might  be  known 
that  it  was  she  who  reigned,  it  was  his  will  that  there  should 
be  seen  on  the  furniture,  on  the  devices,  and  even  on  the  fronts 
of  his  royal  buildings,  a  crescent,  and  the  bows  and  arrows 
which  were  the  arms  of  this  unchaste  Diana.  The  love  of  a 
young  king  for  a  woman  of  forty,  who  had  several  children 
to  her  husband,  might  be  called  an  enchantment  without 
charms." 

Mezerai,  it  will  be  observed,  speaks  with  less  gallantry  than 
the  courtly  Brantome.     "  There  was,"  he  says,  "  more  of  old 

*  Mademoiselle  de  Luzan,  "Annales  Galantes  de  la  Cour  de  Henri 
Second,"  torn,  i,  p.  129.  Amst.  1749.      , 


258  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

age  than  of  bashful ness  on  her  forehead ;  and  years  which  had 
extinguished  the  brilliancy  of  youth  in  her  eyes,  lighted  up 
more  violently  the  flames  of  desire  in  her  heart.  She  was 
unjust,  violent,  and  proud  towards  those  who  displeased  her, 
but  otherwise  she  was  benefisent  and  liberal.  She  also  had  a 
very  agreeable  mind,  and  her  hands  still  more  so,  as  she 
bestowed  much,  and  with  a  good  grace.  The  king  loved  her 
because  she  was  very  sensible  of  love,  and  her  temperament 
sometimes  led  her  to  seek  elsewhere  for  the  completion  of  her 
pleasures,  as  she  found  in  him  the  completion  of  her  fortune 
and  her  honors."* 

Diana  of  Poitiers  is  an  instance — though  not  a  solitary  one  by 
any  means— of  a  woman  loved  to  distraction  by  a  man  whose 
mother,  in  respect  of  difference  of  ages,  she  might  have  been. 
Such  affections  are  unrom antic  ;  but  romances  and  poetry  have 
both  given  very  unfair  representations  of  the  loves  of  this 
actual  world. 

European  writers  have  not  had  the  courage  to  speak  of  the 
beauty  of  a  woman  past  twenty,  their  notions  on  this  subject 
being  drawn  neither  from  feeling  nor  experience,  but  servilely 
stolen  from  Eastern  writers  describing  beauty  in  countries 
where  a  woman  is  a  mother  at  fifteen  and  an  old  woman  at 
thirty.  Yet  there  are  more  writers  than  Ovid  who  have  done 
justice  to  the  beauty  of  matured  womanhood.  In  one  of  the 
Love  Epistles  of  Aristaenetus,  Terpsion  is  introduced,  censuring 
her  lover  for  his  bad  taste  in  preferring  the  charms  of  a  girl  to 
the  richer  beauty  of  a  woman,  and  urging  the  superiority  of  the 
latter  with  great  effect,  f  Our  own  pious  and  amiable  Dr. 
Donne  tells  us  that 

"  No  spring  nor  summer  beauty  hath  such  grace 
As  I  have  seen  in  an  autumnal  face." 

*  Mezerai,  "  Abrego  Chronologique,"  torn,  in,  p.  103. 
f  Aristaenetus,  "Epist."  lib.  n,  Ep.  vii,  p.  151. 


DIANA    OF    POITIERS.  259 

I  have  elsewhere  noticed  that  Gibbon,  in  speaking  of  the 
Empress  Eudocia  (Athenais,)  says  that  "the  writer  of  a  romance 
would  not  have  imagined  that  Athenais  was  nearly  twenty-eight 
when  she  inflamed  the  heart  of  a  young  emperor."  The 
remark  is  a  sound  one ;  but,  as  an  exception  to  its  truth,  it  may 
De  mentioned  that  Crebillon,  in  his  best  romance,  the  "Egare- 
ments  du  Cceur  et  de  l'Esprit,"  makes  Madame  de  Lursay  by 
far  the  most  interesting  and  effective  beauty  in  the  story,  arrived 
at  the  age  of  forty,  when  she  makes  a  conquest  of  the  young 
hero  of  the  novel. 

It  is  to  Diana  of  Poitiers  that  Brantome  is  understood  to 
refer  in  another  part  of  his  M  Dames  G-alantes,"  where  he  speaks 
of"  a  great  sovereign  who  loved  so  passionately  a  great  lady 
an  aged  widow,  that  he  left  his  queen,  beautiful  as  she  was 
and  all  others  for  her  sake.  But  in  this,"  he  says,  after  his 
usual  fashion,  in  speaking  of  such  matters,  "  he  was  right;  for 
she  wTas  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  loveable  ladies  that  one 
could  see  ;  and  her  winter,  indeed,  was  better  than  the  spring, 
the  summer,  and  the  autumn  of  others."* 

Mrs.  Jameson,  in  her  account  of  the  paintings  at  Althorpe 
describes  one  that  has  been  several  times  copied  — "  that  most 
curious  picture  of  Diana  of  Poitiers  once  in  the  Crawford  collec- 
tion. It  is  a  small  half-length  ;  the  features  fair  and  regular. 
The  hair  is  elaborately  dressed  with  a  profusion  of  jewels,  but 
there  is  no  drapery  whatever— -force  pierreries  et  tres  peu  de 
Huge,  as  Madame  de  Sevigne  described  thetwoMancini."f 

With  regard  to  this  picture,  it  may  be  conjectured  that  the 
Duchess  had  chosen  to  have  herself  represented  thus  naked,  in 
the  character  of  her  namesake  in  the  ancient  mythology.  We 
have  seen  that  amongst  the  devices  on  her  equipage  she  used 
the  moon,  the  representative  of  Diana  in  heaven,  and  a  bow  and 

*  Brantome, "  Dames  Galantes,  (Euvres,  torn  iv,  p.  103. 

t  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  Visits  and  Sketches  at  Home  and  Abroad,"  vol.  n, 
p.  245. 


260  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

arrows  the  weapons  of  the  goddess  of  the  chase  upon  earth. 
As  an  active  huntress  the  Duchess  might  be  flattered  by  being 
compared  to  the  Greek  Diana,  but  she  should  not  have  invited 
those  awkward  comparisons  which  her  name  and  character 
together  must  have  suggested  between  her  and  the  cold  divinity 
who  bore  the  title  of  "  the  perpetual  virgin." 

At  Hampton  Court,  in  the  Queen's  Gallery,  there  is  a  curi- 
ous picture  called  "  Francis  I.  and  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois." 
The  bringing  of  these  two  together  in  a  picture  keeps  alive  the 
scandal  which,  though  affirmed  by  more    than  one  French 
historian,  is  not  well  authenticated,   that   Diana,    before  she 
became  the  favorite  of  Henry,  had  been  mistress  to  his  father. 
In  this  picture,  Francis    and    the    lady    who    is    squinting 
into  his  face,  form  a  ludicrously  ugly  couple.     There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  though  a  caricature  of  his  likeness,  this  is  Fran- 
cis, as  may  be  seen  by  a  comparison  of  it  with  his  portrait  by 
Holbein  in  the  same  room.     There  may  be  doubts,  however, 
if  the  other  portrait  is  that  of  the  Duchess   of  Valentinois. 
All  the  portraits  of  Francis  represent  him  with  these  small 
eyes.     In  this  picture  they  are  peculiarly  piggish.     The  little 
woman  beside  him   is    yellow-haired,  amazingly   ill-favored, 
with  very  small  and  very  ill  shaped  eyes. 

We  must  not  be  surprised  that  an  artist  should  put  out  of 
his  hands  a  thing  like  this  as  representing  a  handsome  prince 
and  a  beautiful  lady,  seeing  that  many  painters,  and  amongst 
these  some  of  great  name,  have  given  us  portraits  of  the  god- 
dess of  beauty  herself  in  which  the  face  is  devoid  of  charms,  and 
the  figure  offends  painfully  against  the  natural  proportion  of 
the  female  form. 


CATHAEINE   DE'   MEDICI. 


Between  Brantome  and  one  or  two  other  writers,  we  have 
a  tolerably  complete  picture  of  that  remarkable  and  interest- 
ing woman  Catharine  de'  Medici.  Brantome  does  the  purely 
eulogistic  part  to  perfection.  Catharine,  he  tells  us,  was  of  a 
very  beautiful  and  gorgeous  figure,  of  great  majesty,  always 
very  gentle  when  there  was  occasion,  of  fine  appearance  and 
good  grace,  her  face  fair  and  pleasant,  her  bosom  very  beau- 
tiful and  white  and  full,  her  body  also  was  very  beautiful  and 
fair.  She  was  of  a  very  rich  embonpoint,  her  legs  very  hand- 
some, and  she  loved  to  wear  fine  stockings.* 

Catharine,  though  stout  in  womanhood,  was  a  slender  girl, 
a  very  common  and  indeed  the  usual  case.  She  is  described  by 
Antonio  Suriano,  ambassador  from  Venice  to  Rome,  who  saw 
her  in  1533,  as  slender  and  small  in  person;  her  features  not 
delicate,  and  he  adds,  that  she  had  the  large  eyes  peculiar  to  the 
Medici  family.  "  Her  nature,"  he  adds,  "  is  lively,  her  spirit 
gentle,  and  her  manners  good. "f  This  is  the  description  of 
Catharine  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  wheri  an  Italian  girl  is  con- 

*  "  Relatio  Antonii  Suriani,"  quoted  by  Ranko,  "  History  of  the  Popes,' 
Appendix,  No.  20. 

t  Brantome,  "  Dames  Illustres,"  CEuvres,  torn,  n,  p.  41. 

(261) 


262  CLASSIC   AND    HISTOKIC    POKTRAITS. 

sidered  a  young  woman.     Catharine  was  married  at  fourteen 
It  is  the  age  of  Shakespere's  Juliet. 

Lady  Capulet. — Thou  know'st  my  daughter's  of  a  pretty  age. 
Nurse. — Faith  I  can  tell  her  age  unto  an  hour. 
Lady  Capulet. — She's  not  fourteen. 
Nurse.— I'll  lay  fourteen  of  my  teeth — 

And  yet,  to  my  teen  be  it  spoken,  I  have  but  four — 

She  is  not  fourteen      How  long  is  it  now 

To  Lammas-tide  ? 
Lady  Capulet.— A  fortnight  and  odd  days. 
Nurse. — Even  or  odd,  of  all  days  in  the  year, 

Come  Lammas-eve  at  night  shall  she  be  fourteen. 

The  great  beauty  which  Brantome  attributes  to  Catharine 
endured  with  her,  as  he  tells  us,  as  a  wife  and  widow  almost 
to  her  death ;"  "  not  that  she  was  then,"  he  says  with  a  caution 
unusual  with  him  in  such  cases,  "  as  fresh  as  she  was  in  her 
most  flourishing  years,  but  in  good  preservation,  and  very 
desirable  and  agreeable." 

The  flattering  picture  painted  by  Brantome  must  be  modi- 
fied by  the  sketches  drawn  by  writers  less  prejudiced  in  favor 
of  royal  charms.  Catharine  'de'  Medici  was  not  a  beauty. 
There  were  serious  drawbacks  to  the  perfections  which  Bran- 
tome finds  in  her.  The  more  faithful  picture  by  Mezerai  bears 
manifest  marks  of  minute  accuracy,  and  of  being  derived  from 
contemporary  sources.  Catharine,  according  to  Mezerai,  was 
of  middle  height,  and  fat  and  square  in  the  figure  (grosse  ct 
garree,)  and  her  face  was  rather  large,  the  mouth  projecting 
(the  phrase  here  is,  la  bouche  relevee,  which  may  have  some 
other  signification,)  her  complexion  was  perfectly  white,  but 
with  little  carnation  in  it,  the  eyes  soft  but  large  and  rolling 
about  with  great  volubility,  her  head  very  large,  and  she  could 
not  walk  even  a  short  distance  without  bathing  it  in  water.  A 
face  rather  large  and  a  head  very  large  are  perfectly  destruc- 
tive of  beauty.  A  small  head  in  a  woman  is  more  tolerable  to 
a  just  taste  than  a  head  which  can  be  called  large,  much  less 
very  large. 


263  CATHARINE    DE     MEDICI. 

"  As  for  the  rest,"  says  Brantome,  "  Catherine  had  the  finest 
hand  I  believe  that  ever  was  seen.  The  poets  have  praised 
Aurora  for  having  beautiful  hands  and  beautiful  fingers,  but  I 
believe  that  the  queen  would  have  surpassed  her  in  this,  and 
she  kept  her  hands  beautiful  even  till  her  death.  Rer  son 
Henry  III.  inherited  from  his  mother  a  great  deal  of  this 
beauty  of  the  hands." 

Brantome  is  very  liberal  of  fine  hands  to  his  ladies,  but  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  Catherine  was  proud  of  her  hands 
and  her  feet.  A  narrow  hand  with  long  slender  fingers  ap- 
pears to  be  what  is  required.  Such  are  the  hands  of  Dante's 
Beatrice  in  the  Canzone,  in  which  he  draws  so  complete  a 
picture  of  beauty.  With  the  exception  of  the  broad  forehead 
which  Dante  bestows  on  his  mistress,  the  rest  of  her  portrait 
is  entirely  after  the  ancient  taste.  She  has  the  crisped  gol- 
den locks,  the  mouth,  "  amorous  and  beautiful,"  the  nose 
straight,  the  chin  small,  the  neck  white  and  slender,  finely  join- 
ing with  the  shoulders  and  bosom,  and  as  heightening  their  effect 
the  slender  hands  of  Beatrice  are  attached  to  arms  which  the 
poet  says  were  large  and  broad  : 

"  I  bracci  suoi  distesi  e  grossi." 

The  hand  of  Alcina  in  her  enchanted  form  in  the  "  Orlando 

Eurioso"  is  long  and  narrow,  and  her  picture  is  one  of  the 

most   complete  descriptions  of  a   beauty  to  be  found  in  all 

poetry  : 

"  Lunghetta  alquanto  e  dilarghezza  augustat."* 

"  Her  hands  long  and  her  fingers  slender,"  is  part  of  a  very 
minute  description  of  a  perfect  woman  in  the  curious  and 
learned  work  of  Nicolas  Venetta.  I  give  the  whole  portrait 
as  drawn  by  Venetta  in  a  note  below,  as  it  contains  some  pe- 
culiar points.f 

*  Ariosto,  Orlando  Furioso,  c.  vin,  st.  xiv. 

r  "  En  effet,  sa  taille  est  haute,  bien  prise  et  des  plus  fines ;  son  air 
a  je  nc  scay  quoy  si  remply  dc  majeste  qu'il  inspire  du  respect  aux  plus 


264  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Fine  hands — that  is  fair  and  slender  hands — have  even  been 
admired  in  the  other  sex.  In  the  Queen  of  Navarre's  novel, 
where  the  lady  of  Pampeluna  falls  in  love  with  the  Cordelier, 
the  beautiful  hands  of  the  priest  are  made  to  play  a  principal 
part  in  inspiring  this  unhappy  passion.  She  goes  to  church  on 
the  first  day  of  Lent.  "  After  sermon  the  Cordelier  celebrated 
mass,  at  which  the  lady  was  present,  and  took  the  ashes  from 
his  hand,  which  was  as  beautiful  and  white  as  a  lady  could 
have.  The  devout  lady  paid  much  more  attention  to  the 
priest's  hand  than  to  the  ashes  he  gave  her,  persuaded  that 
this  spiritual  love  could  not  be  hurtful  to  the  conscience, 
whatever  pleasure  she  received  from  it."* 

D'Israeli,  in  his  "  Curiosities  of  Literature,"  notices  that 
Henrietta  the  Queen  of  Charles  I.,  in  describing  the  famous 
Earl  of  Stafford,  in  a  private  letter  says  :  "  Though  not  hand- 
some he  was  agreeable  enough,  and  he  had  the  finest  hands 

hardis  ;  son  humeur  est  agreable  et  son  esprit  vif  et  brilliant.  A  la  con- 
siderer  en  particulier,  son  embonpoint  est  accompli/  etletour  deson  visage 
merveilleux  Ses  dents  sont  blanches,  ses  joues  et  ses  levres  sont  du  cou- 
leur  do  rose,  son  front  est  assez  large,  ses  yeux  grands  et  bleus,  bien 
ouverts  et  pleins  de  feu,  ses  sourcils  noirs,  sa  louche  et  ses  oreilles 
petites,  son  nez  bien  fait,  sa  gorge  un  peu  elevee,  ses  mains  longues  et 
doigts  deliez,  sa  poitrine  large,  sonflanc,  presse,  ses  pieds  petits  et  dedi- 
cates "  Venette  then  adds  what  he  considers  the  ancient  portrait  of  a 
beauty,  and  here  the  small  forehead  comes  in  place  of  the  large  one  in 
his  own  picture.  "  Et  si  1'on  veut  une  beaute  qui  plaisoit  aux  anciens, 
je  diray  avec  Petrone,  qu'elle  a  les  cheveux  naturellement  frisez,  qui  lui 
battent  agreablement  les  epaules  ;  que  son  fronte  est  petit  au  dessus  du- 
quel  on  voit  de  veritables  cheveux  retroussez  agreablement,  que  ses  sour- 
cils se  courbent,  que  ses  yeux  sont  plus  brilliants  que  les  etoiles  dans 
l'obscurite  de^la  nuit,  que  son  nez  est  un  peu  ajuilin  ;  que  sa  bouche 
est  petite  semblable  a  celle  de  Venus  de  Praxitele.  Enfin  que  son  visage, 
sa  gorge,  ses  bras  et  ses  jambes  ornez  de  lien,  de  cooliers  et  de  brasselets 
d'or  effacent  la  blancheur  dumarbre  le  plus  estime."— Nicolas  Venette, 
'«  Tableau  de  l' Amour  Conjugal,"  p.  242.     Cologne,  1696. 

*  "  Contes  et  Nouvelles  de  Marguerite  deValois,"  torn  n,  p.  17. 


CATHARINE    DE     MEDICI.  265 

of  any  man  in  the  world."  Ninon  de  l'Enclos,  as  will  be  men- 
tioned afterwards,  felt  a  repugnance  to  a  man  with  large 
hands.  More  than  one  French  writer  dwells  with  enthusiasm 
on  the  beautiful  hands  of  Napoleon. 

All  writers,  who  have  spoken  on  the  subject,  have  agreed 
in  praising  the  elegant  taste  and  splendor  which  Catharine  dis- 
played in  her  dresses,  and  in  her  retinues.  "  She  always 
dressed  very  well  and  superbly,"  says  Brantome,  "  displaying 
every  new  and  genteel  invention."  Corneille,  the  painter,  he 
says,  drew  Catharine  dressed  after  the  French  fashion,  with  a 
bonnet  adorned  with  large  pearls,  and  a  robe  with  wide  sleeves 
of  silvered  lace,  trimmed  with  wolf's  fur.  Her  three  daugh- 
ters appeared  beside  her  in  this  picture.  The  Queen  was 
delighted  with  her  portrait,  which  ladies  seldom  are. 

Varillas  celebrates  the  skill  with  which  all  her  dresses  were 
adapted  to  her  person.  She  rested  her  claims  to  admiration 
greatly  on  her  fine  ankles ;  and  in  order  to  do  justice  to  their 
excellence,  she  had  her  silk  stockings  drawn  tight  upon  them  ; 
and  in  riding,  which  was  her  usual  exercise,  she  threw  one  leg 
rather  ostentatiously  over  the  pommel  of  the  saddle.  In  her 
days,  and  long  after,  it  should  be  observed,  that  stockings 
were  an  article  of  dress  which  women  attended  to  with  great 
care,  and  bestowed  much  expense  upon.  A  common  present 
in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  from  a  gentleman 
to  a  lady,  as  a  New-year's  gift,  was  a  pair  of  stockings  and 
garters,  often  of  the  costliest  and  most  curious  materials  and 
adornment.*  Carnation-colored  stockings  and  yellow  garters 
were  the  handsome  fashion ;  and  those  gaudy  and  expensive 
ornaments  were  intended  only  for  partial  concealment. 

*  In  Southey's  "  Common  Plaee  Book"  we  find  the  following  notices 
about  stockings.  The  first  is  from  the  Skipton  Accounts  under  date 
1618  ;  "Paid  for  a  pair  of  carnation  silk  stockings  and  a  pair  of  asshe- 
colored  taffata  garters  and  roses,  edged  with  silver  lace,  given  by  my  Lord 
to  Mrs.  Douglas  Shiefield,  she  drawing  my  Lord  for  her  valentine,  £3  10s. ' 
12 


266  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

Catharine,  as  we  are  told  by  Brantome,  delighted  in  the 
chase,  and  could  manage  a  horse  'admirably,  though  in  the 
course  of  her  life  she  suffered  severely  from  falls.  On  one 
occasion  she  broke  her  leg,  and  on  another  received  so  severe 
an  injury  on  the  head,  that  she  had  to  undergo  the  operation 
of  trepanning.  In  fine  weather  she  played  at  the  pattemail  and 
at  the.  arbalest  a  jallet,  a  sort  of  cross  bow  for  shooting  clay- 
pellets.  For  bad  weather  she  was  always  inventing  some  new 
dance,  or  ballet.  She  patronised  theatrical  entertainments,  as 
also  the  performances  of  zanies  and  pantaloons,  at  which,  says 
Brantome,  she  would  laugh  her  fill.  She  had  a  great  relish  for 
humor,  and  showed  her  enjoyment  of  such  jokes  as  men  even 
must  not  make  now-a-days. 

Catharine  loved  to  surround  herself  with  beautiful  women  as 
her  attendants.  Amidst  the  general  accusations,  which  have 
been  cast  upon  her,  her  chastity  has  not  been  spared,  and  she 
has  been  accused  of  having  various  amors  with  persons  of 
low  rank.  These  charges  may,  I  think,  be  dismissed  as  not 
supported  by  any  good  authority.  The  general  licentiousness 
of  her  court,  however,  is  well  established ;  but  it  should  be 
recollected  that  her  immediate  predecessors  were  Francis  I., 
and  Henry  II.,  and  that  the  court  and  the  kingdom  had  long 
been  ruled  by  mistresses ;  and  the  amount  of  the  charge  that 
can  fairly  be  brought  against  Catharine  on  this  score  is,  that 
she  did  not  reform  the  morals  of  the  palace.  It  must  farther 
be  admitted  that  she  made  use  of  the  circle  of  beauty,  which 
she  gathered  around  her,  for  political  objects. 

*'  She  brought  with  her,"  says  Mezerai,  in  speaking  of  a  visit 
she  made  to  her  son  Henry  III.,  "  a  great  band  of  very  beau- 
tiful women,  whom  she  displayed  in  all  her  negotiations,  like 
snares,  to  catch  those  with  whom  she  treated." 

Under  date  1611,  we  have  :  **  Sir  F.  Bacon  sends  to  Sir  M.  Hicke's  lady 
and  daughters  a  New-year's  gift  of  carnation  stockings  to  wear  for  his 
sake."— Southey's  "  Common  Place  Book,"  pp.  321  and  513. 


CATHARINE    DE     MEDICI.  267 

In  order  to  retain  the  powers  of  the  state  in  her  own  vigor- 
ous hands,  she  encouraged  the  debaucheries  of  her  sons.  She 
made  a  complete  Sybarite  of  Henry  III.  He  threw  away 
prodigious  sums  in  gambling ;  he  disguised  himself  in  mas- 
querade, and  appeared  dressed  as  a  woman.  And  Mezerai 
tells  us  that  Catharine  entertained  him  at  a  feast,  at  which  the 
most  beautiful  women  of  the  court  attended  with  their  hair 
dishevelled,  and  their  bosoms  uncovered.* 

The  court  of  Catharine  in  short  was  altogether  like  what  the 
court  of  her  husband  had  been.  Speaking  of  Henry  II.,  Mez- 
erai says  :  "  Almost  all  the  vices  which  ruin  great  states,  and 
draw  down  the  wrath  of  Heaven,  reigned  in  his  court — luxury, 
immodesty,  libertinage,  blasphemies,  and  the  curiosity,  as  fool- 
ish as  impious,  of  searching  after  the  secrets  of  the  future  by 
the  detestable  illusions  of  magical  art." 

The  account  which  the  historian  gives  of  the  court  under 
Charles  IX.  (that  is,  under  Catharine),  is  a  parallel  to  this  with 
some  still  darker  shades  in  the  picture.  "  Before  this  reign,  it 
was  the  men  that  by  their  example  and  persuasions  drew  the 
women  into  gallantry ;  but  now  that  love  affairs  formed  the 
greater  part  of  the  intrigues  and  mysteries  of  state,  the  women 
went  before  the  men  ;  their  husbands  left  the  bridle  loose  upon 
them  from  complaisance,  and  from  interest ;  and  besides  those 
who  loved  change,  found  a  satisfaction  in  this  liberty  which, 
instead  of  one  wife,  gave  them  a  hundred. rf 

During  this  reign,  the  court  and  the  kingdom  swarmed  with 
sorcerers.  The  queen  herself  studied  and  practised  magic. 
She  wore  about  her  person  some  characters  written  on  a  piece 
of  the  skin  of  a  dead  born  child. 

Catharine  was  ten  years  married  before  she  had  a  child,  and 
in  the  ten  subsequent  years  she  had  ten  children,  three  of 
whom  died  in  infancy.     Brantome  makes  the  remark  that  it 

*  Mezerai,  "  Abrege  Chronologique, '  torn    in,  \\  230. 
f  Mezerai,  torn,  ia,  p.  2-54. 


26y  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

was  the  nature  of  the  women  of  the  Medici  family  to  be  late 
in  conceiving.  During  the  period  of  her  barrenness,  Catharine 
who,  during  the  whole  life-time  of  Henry,  is  allowed  to  have 
conducted  herself  with  prudence,  was  neglected  and  despised  ; 
but  her  subsequent  fertility,  says  Mezerai,  "  made  her  triumph 
over  the  ill-will  of  her  enemies,  and  acquired  for  her  the  affec- 
tion of  the  people,  and  the  esteem  of  the  court,  who  regard- 
ed her  afterwards  with  admiration  and  respect,  as  a  beauti- 
ful tree  always  loaded  with  flowers  and  fruits."* 

The  employment  of  the  famous  John  Fernelius,  the  physi- 
cian, at  her  deliveries  is  noticed  by  the  historians  of  Catharine. 
She  rewarded  him  with  a  hundred  thousand  crowns,  or  about 
six  thousand  pounds  sterling,  on  each  occasion.  It  does  not 
appear  that  the  example  of  Catherine  brought  the  practice  of 
employing  physicians  instead  of  midwives  into  fashion.  It  is 
certain  that,  more  than  a  century  afterwards,  when  a  medical 
man  was  employed  at  the  first  delivery  of  Mademoiselle  de  la 
Valliere,  it  was  considered  a  thing  unprecedented;  and  the 
reason  for  the  departure  from  ordinary  usage  in  this  case  was 
not  any  anticipated  difficulty  in  labor,  but  the  king's  desire — 
certainly  a  vain  desire — to  make  the  delivery  a  secret,  by  keep- 
ing it  out  of  the  mouths  of  women. 

Up  till  this  time  (1663,)  a  learned  physician,  omitting  to 
notice  the  exception  in  the  case  of  Catherine  de  Medici,  asserts 
that  the  employment  of  physicians  as  midwives  was  unknown 
in  any  country  in  Europe.f  In  the  history  of  ancient  Athens, 
there  was,  for  a  very  short  time,  a  departure  from  the  usage 
of  all  nations  which  created  terrible  consternation  and  discon- 
tent.    After  the  example  set  in  the  instance  of  La  Valliere 

*  Mezerai,  torn,  in,  p.  149. 

f  Roussel,  "  Systeme  Physique  et  Morale  de  la  Femme,"  p.  277. 
Paris,  1845.  The  same  assertion  is  made  by  Astruc  in  his  "  Histoire 
Sommaire  de  1'  Art  d'Accoucher.  ' 


CATHARINE    DE'    MEDICI.  269 

the  practice  of  employing  physicians  appears  to  have  prevailed 
in  France. 

Bayle,  writing  about  1690,  asserts  that  it  was  then  unknown 
in  any  country  except  France.  But  he  adds  this  prediction  : 
"  The  time,  perhaps,  will  come  when  the  same  fashion  will  pre- 
vail in  the  greater  part  of  Europe ;  and  modesty  will  undergo 
the  fate  of  a  thousand  other  things  which  are  subject  to  the 
fantastic  and  inconstant  laws  of  custom."*  The  prophecy  has 
been  fulfilled. 

Mezerai  has  not  been  favourable  to  the  moral  character  of, 
Catharine,  but  there  is  a  great  deal  of  truth  and  of  sagacity  in 
his  sketch.  "  Her  mind,"  he  says,  "  was  extremely  subtle, 
concealed,  full  of  ambition  and  of  artifice,  able  to  accommodate 
itself  to  all  sorts  of  persons,  to  dissemble  her  real  views,  and 
to  conduct  her  designs  with  incredible  patience;  ready  in  find- 
ing expedients  in  cases  of  need,  being  never  surprised  by  any 
accident,  as  if  she  had  herself  desired  and  brought  about  all 
that  happened.  Otherwise,  she  was  gentle — at  least,  in  appear- 
ance— generous,  and  magnificent.  .  .  .  She  also  merits 
the  praise  of  not  only  loving  architecture,  painting,  and  sculp- 
ture, but  also  of  having  favored  men  of  letters,  and  having 
brought  from  Greece  and  Italy  many  ancient  and  rare  manu- 
scripts, which  are,  at  this  day,  the  most  beautiful  ornaments 
of  the  Eoyal  Library. 

"  She  entertained  all  strangers  with  much  courtesy,  and  her 
own  domestics  with  great  familiarity.  She  had  a  marvellous 
grace  in  persuading,  and  loved  diversions  even  in  the  midst 
of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  her  affairs.  ...  From  the 
time  of  the  death  of  her  husband  she  strove  to  keep  the  sover- 
eign authority  in  her  own  hands.  This  she  could  not  do  with- 
out distracting  her  mind  with  continual  pain  and  disquietude, 
and  the  kingdom  with  troubles  and  disagreements,  arousing 
and  elevating  sometimes  one  faction,  and  sometimes  lowering 
*   Bayle,  "Diet."  art.   "Hierophile." 


270  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

and  lulling  to  rest  another,  uniting  sometimes  with  the  weaker 
out  of  prudence  for  fear  that  the  stronger  might  overwhelm 
her,  sometimes  again  with  the  stronger  from  necessity,  and 
sometimes  holding  herself  neutral  when  she  felt  herself  power- 
ful enough  to  control  both  ;  but  never  intending  to  extinguish 
them  altogether."* 

I  am  afraid  that  I  may  be  considered  as  offering  an  outrage 
to  virtue  itself,  if  I  speak  of  any  good  and  noble  qualities  in 
the  woman  whose  name,  to  many  readers,  awakens  no  other 
memory  than  that  of  St.  Bartholomew's-day.  It  cannot,  I 
admit,  be  considered  any  palliation  of  this  execrable  crime 
that  it  was  not  the  fruit  either  of  fanaticism  or  of  bigotry. 
Catharine  was  neither  a  fanatic  nor  a  bigot;  and  in  religious 
matters,  as  separated  from  state  politics,  was  a  friend  to  toler- 
ation. Indeed,  her  enemies  in  her  own  day  gave  her  credit 
for  the  boldest  latitudinarianism. 

In  a  little  book  published  in  her  own  lifetime,  and  written 
no  doubt,  with  the  same  intention  as  John  Knox  wrote  his 
treatise  against  the  "  Monstrous  Eegiment  of  Woman,"  to 
incite  her  subjects  to  rebellion  against  her,  Catharine,  whom 
the  writer  elaborately  compares  to  the  horrible  Fredegondes 
and  Brunehildes  of  the  early  Frank  history,  is  plainly  called 
an  atheist.  "  Katherine,"  says  this  writer,  M  being  of  the  race 
of  an  atheist,  and  nourished  in  atheisme,  hath  replenished  the 
realme,  but  specially  the  Court,  with  atheistes."t 

The  massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew  was  a  coup  d'etat  dictated 
by  what  she  considered  a  pressing  emergency,  when  her  throne 
was  tottering  under  the  assaults  of  its  enemies,  and  it  was  con- 

*  Mezerai,  torn,  m,  p.  150. 

f  «  Ane  Meruellous  Discours  upon  the  Lyfe,  Deedes,  and  Behauioui 
of  Katherine  de  Medicis,  Quene  Mother,"  printed  at  Cracow,  1576. 
I  have  used  the  copy  of  this  curious  little  book,  which  is  in  the  Advocate's 
Library  at  Edinburgh.  As  the  place  of  publication,  perhaps,  we  should 
read  Edinburgh  for  Cracow. 


CATHERINE    DE'   MEDICI,  271 

ccived  and  carried  out  in  the  spirit  of  that  expediency  in  which 
she  had  been  educated ;  the  Italian  policy  of  the  period.  It 
was  a  terrible  blow,  struck  at  a  dangerous  and  powerful  enemy  ; 
a  deed  which  men  who  were  neither  fanatics  nor  bigots  highly 
approved,  as  extremely  salutary  in  prostrating  the  power  of 
what   they   regarded  as   hateful,  hypocritical,  intriguing,   and 

insidious  faction. 

We  cannot  suppose  that  Catharine,  who  lived  amongst  them 
and  knew  them,  could  look  on  the  Huguenots  of  France  as 
they  are  regarded  by  the  Protestants  of  the  nineteenth  century  ; 
as  a  congregation  of  saints.  This  certainly  was  not  the  light  in 
which  they  were  regarded  by  men  at  that  period,  who  cannot 
be  accused  of  fanaticism  either  in  politics  or  in  religion.  We 
may  safely  call  Montaigne — a  liberal,  a  tolerant,  and  a  philo- 
sophic man — as  a  witness  to  his  impressions  of  the  character  of 
the  Huguenots.  "  In  this  contest,"  says  Montaigne,  in  his 
u  Essay  on  Liberty  of  Conscience,"  "  by  which  France  is  at  pre- 
sent agitated  with  civil  wars,  the  better  and  the  sounder  party 
is  without  doubt,  that  which  maintains  the  ancient  religion  and 
the  ancient  policy  of  the  country."* 

The  most  dreadful  crimes  have  been  commited  conscientiously 
and  as  the  philosophical  Tacitus  half  approves  of  the  cruelties. 
of  Nero  to  the  early  Christians,  whom  the  historian  unhappily 
regarded  as  a  hateful  people,  so  I  can  believe,  notwithstanding 
the  tale  of  the  remorse  which  visited  her  dying  pillow,  that 
Catharine,  to  the  last,  believed  that  the  massacre  of  the 
Huguenots  was  a  patriotic  deed. 

Catharine's  conduct  as  a  wife  appears  to  have  been  exemp- 
lary. The  uncomplaining  patience  with  which  she  endured  the 
king's  neglect  of  her  for  the  love  of  Diana  of  Poitiers  may,  by 
those  who  are  not  disposed  to  put  a- good  construction  on  her 
extraordinary  forbearance,  be  received  as  merely  a  proof  of 
her  great  control  over  the  expression  of  her  feelings.  But 
*    Montaigne,  'i  Essais,''  liv.  II,  c.  19. 


272  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

after  she  assumed  and,  as  queen-mother,  vigorously  exercised 
the  powers  of  monarchy,  the  magnanimity  with  which  she 
refused  to  revenge  herself,  or  allow  any  others  to  revenge  her 
upon  her  who,  for  twenty  years,  had  been  her  rival ;  and  the 
care  which  she  took,  while  succeeding  lawfully  to  all  the 
political  authority  which  the  Duchess  of  Valentinois  had  so 
long  unlawfully  exercised,  that  neither  the  wealth,  nor  the 
palaces,  nor  any  of  the  presents  which  Henry  had  bestowed 
on  his  favourite  should  be  withdrawn  from  her,  will  compel 
those  who  are  capable  of  giving  due  weight  to  the  rare  and 
great  merit  of  such  conduct,  to  confess  that,  if  Catharine's 
memory  is  loaded  with  one  of  the  most  gigantic  crimes  in 
history,  she  exhibited,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  virtues,  in 
which  few  indeed  of  those  who  can  execrate  her  great  guilt  will 
be  inclined  or  able  to  imitate  her. 


QUEEN    ELIZABETH 


If  it  were  desired  to  prove  from  partial  testimonies  that  this 
unamiable  woman  was  a  great  beauty  and  a  perfect  saint,  it 
would  not  be  difficult  to  collect  a  good  body  of  evidence  on 
both  points  from  her  contemporaries,  and  from  persons  who 
ought  to  have  known  what  she  was  like,  including  herself.  Her 
admiration  of  her  own  beauty  was  intense  and  enthusiastic. 
Whether  or  not  it  be  true  that  she  instructed  her  painters  to 
paint  her  face  without  any  shadow  in  it,  it  is  certain  that  she 
never  could  be  satisfied  with  any  likeness  made  of  her,  in  how- 
ever courteous  and  flattering  a  manner  the  artist  had  behaved 
towards  her.  She  was  disgusted  with  the  best  efforts  in  this 
line  ;  feeling  how  far  those  painters  who  wrere  most  anxious  to 
please  had  fa.len  short  in  doing  justice  to  the  charms  which 
her  faithful  looking-glass,  which  could  not  lie,  revealed  to  her 
in  herself.  She  viewed  with  execration  the  attempts  made  to 
convey  her  features  to  the  canvas. 

She  executed  wrath  against  innumerable  portraits  of  herself 
painted  with  the  most  passionate  desire  of  pleasing  her,  or  at 
least  of  appeasing  her  indignation,  and  with  the  most  sincere 
and  loyal  design  of  imposing  her  on  the  world,  and  on  all  who 
had  not  seen  or  were  not  likely  to  see  her,  as  a  beauty ;  as  not 
12*  (273) 


274  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

merely  the  rival,  but  the  vanquisher  of  her  fair  cousin,  Mary 
of  Scotland.  No  Iconoclast  of  Byzantium,  no  conquering  son 
of  the  Koran  ever,  in  his  devoutest  rage,  manifested  a  more 
religious  fury  against  graven  images,  and  the  likenesses  of  divine 
or  human  beings,  either  in  the  heavens  above  or  the  earth 
beneath,  than  the  Virgin  Queen,  the  "bright  occidental  star" 
did  against  the  best  portraits  of  herself;  her  sacred  wrath 
against  the  more  favorable  being  only  surpassed  by  that 
with  which  she  burned  against  the  more  faithful.  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh,  her  admirer,  tells  us  of  "  the  pictures  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth made  by  unskillful  and  common  painters  which  by  her 
own  commandment  were  knockt  inpeeces  and  cast  into  the  fire."* 
As  some  excuse  for  her  blindness  to  the  moderate  charms  of 
her  person  and  of  her  mind,  it  should  be  recollected  that  never 
was  woman  more  flattered  as  to  both  than  was  Elizabeth.  A 
volume  of  eulogiums  on  both  might  be  compiled  without 
trouble,  the  contents  being  in  prose  and  verse,  concluding,  in 
the  latter  department,  with  the  famous  lines : 

"  She  was,  she  is,  what  can  there  more  be  said, 
On  earth  the  first,  in  heaven  the  second  maid." 

The  general  appearance  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  as  discernible 
through  all  the  mists  and  the  rose-coloring  of  flattery,  is  not 
difficult  to  gather.  She  was  of  the  middle  height.  When  she 
learned  that  Mary,  whom  she  regarded  as  her  audacious  rival 
in  beauty,  though  no  rivalship  was  dreamed  of  by  the  unfortu- 
nate Queen  of  Scots,  or  was  ever  dreamed  of  by  any  person 
of  taste,  was  tall,  she  declared,  as  thousands  of  women  under 
similar  circumstances  have  declared  of  themselves,  that  Mary 
was  too  tall,  and  that  she  herself  was  of  the  true  proper  height 
for  a  woman.  The  person  of  Elizabeth  it  is  understood  is 
done  justice  to,  and  is  accurately  embodied  in  the  equestrian 
figure  of  her  to  be  seen  in  the  Tower  of  London.  There  were 
some  good  points  about  her.  Her  person  was  reasonably  well 
*  Raleigh,  "  History  of  the  World. 'l  Preface.   S  ond   16  U 


QUEEN    ELIZABETH.  275 

proportioned  ;  her  shoulders  and  blast  were  <,rood.  Various 
writers  have  spoken  of  the  dignity  and  stateliness  of  her  walk 
and  carriage;  but  these,  like  her  whole  character,  partook  of 
something  of  the  harshness  of  masculine  vigor. 

Her  hands  have  been  praised  for  their  beauty  and  fairness ; 
they  were  narrow,  the  fingers  being  long,  and  these  are  the  hands 
of  the  admired  fashion.  Such  was  the  hand  of  Ariosto's 
beautiful  enchantress,  as  I  have  elsewhere  noticed,  "  lunghetta 
alquanto  e  di  larghezza  angusta."  Elizabeth  was  aware  of 
this  excellence,  and  endeavoured  to  make  the  most  of  it. 
Before  company  she  was  continually  pulling  off  and  on  her 
gloves,  and  her  fingers  were  decorated  with  rings  and  precious 
stones  in  order  to  call  attention  to  their  symmetry.  But  her 
face  was  long,  hard,  full  of  harsh  lines,  and  intensely  unwoman- 
ly, her  hooked  nose  being  particularly  unfeminine.  Her  eyes 
wTere  small,  her  teeth  bad,  and  her  lips  thin  and  tasteless.  Her 
hair  and  complexion  were  of  a  sandy,  or  insipid  washed-out 
whitey-brown  hue.  Her  little  eyes  are  generally  said  to  have 
been  grey ;  but  a  very  accurate  observer  who  had  gazed  on  her 
with  much  interest,  and  whom  I  am  about  to  quote,  tells  us 
that  they  were  black. 

The  appearance  of  Elizabeth,  from  childhood  to  old  age, 
may  be  studied  in  the  various  portraits  of  her  in  Hampton 
Palace.  They  all  bear  resemblance,  Elizabeth  becoming  gra- 
dually less  and  less  comely  as  she  advanced  from  childhood  to 
youth,  womanhood  and  old  age.  The  picture  of  her  when  a 
mere  child,  by  Holbein,  in  the  King's  Writing  Closet  (281  in 
the  catalogue,)  is  like  that  of  a  boy,  and  bears  a  great  resem- 
blance to  another  picture  by  the  same  painter  (282)  when  she 
was  a  girl.  The  portraits  by  Zucchero  and  by  M.  Garrand  (283 
and  285)  represent  her  in  old  age.  In  the  allegorical  picture 
of  her  by  Luke  de  Heere  (284)  the  resemblance  to  the  other 
portraits  cannot  be  mistaken.     This  picture  represents  Eliza- 


276  CLASSIC  AND  HISTOR  C  PORTRAITS. 

beth  as  vanquishing  Juno  in  power,  Minerva  in  intellect,  and 
Venus  in  beauty. 

"  Juno  potens  sceptris  et  mentis  accumine  Pallas 

Et  roseo  Veneris  fulget  in  ore  decus  ; 

Adfuit  Elizabeth,  Juno  perculsa  refugit 

Obstupuit  Pallas,  erubuitque  Venus." 

There  is  a  very  curious  and  rare  book  of  travels  originally 
written  in  Latin,  by  Paul  Hentzner,  a  German  who  paid  a  visit 
to  England  in  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  in  the  capacity  of  tutor  to 
a  young  German  nobleman.  The  work  of  Hentznerus  lay  in 
manuscript  in  the  original  Latin  till  about  the  middle  of  last 
century,  when  it  was  translated  by  Horace  Walpole  and 
printed  at  his  private  press  at  Strawberry  Hill.  The  edition 
now  before  me  is  a  small  volume  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  pages, 
printed  from  the  private  edition  of  Walpole  with  the  portraits 
of  several  persons  mentioned  by  Hentzner.  An  engraving  of 
Zucchero's  portrait  of  Elizabeth  "  done  by  order  of  the  Parlia- 
ment" forms  the  frontispiece. 

Hentzner's  work  is  extremely  interesting.  He  had  an  eye 
for  detail  in  everything,  and  he  has  described  everything  that 
he  saw.  When  admitted  into  Queen  Elizabeth's  presence 
chambers,  he  gazed  on  her  with  the  eye  of  a  painter,  a  milliner 
and  a  jeweller,  and  he  has  faithfully  committed  the  fruit  of  his 
gazings  to  paper.  He  has  given  us  a  picture  of  Elizabeth  in 
her  sixty-fifth  year,  her  face,  her  form,  her  dress,  her  retinue, 
her  speech  and  her  manners.  I  extract  liberally  from  his 
picturesque  pages. 

11  We  were  admitted  by  an  order  Mr.  Eogers  had  procured 
from  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  into  the  presence  chamber,  hung 
with  rich  tapestry ;  and  the  floor,  after  the  English  fashion, 
strewed  with  hay,  through  which  the  Queen  commonly  passed 
in  her  way  to  Chapel :  at  the  door  stood  a  gentleman  dressed  in 
velvet,  with  a  gold  chain,  whose  office  was  to  introduce  to  the 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH.  277 

Queen  any  person  of  distinction  that  came  to  wait  on  her  :  it 
was  Sunday,  when  there  is  usually  the  greatest  attendance  of 
nobility.  In  the  same  hall  were  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
the  Bishop  of  London,  a  great  number  of  counsellors  of  state, 
officers  of  the  crown,  and  gentlemen,  who  waited  the  Queen's 
coming  out ;  which  she  did  from  her  own  apartment,  when  it 
was  time  to  go  to  prayers,  attended  in  the  following   manner  : 

"  First  went  gentlemen,  barons,  earls,  knights  of  the  garter, 
all  richly  dressed  and  bare-headed  :  next  came  the  chancellor, 
bearing  the  seals  in  a  red  silk  purse  between  two  ;  one  of  which 
carried  the  royal  sceptre,  the  other  the  sword  of  state,  in  a  red 
scabbard,  studded  with  golden  fleurs-de-lis,  the  point  upwards ; 
next  came  the  Queen,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year  of  her  age,  as  we 
were  told,  very  majestic  ;  her  face  oblong,  fair  but  wrinkled  ; 
her  eyes  small,  yet  black  and  pleasant,  her  nose  a  little  hooked ; 
her  lips  narrow,  and  her  teeth  black  (a  defect  the  English 
seem  subject  to,  from  their  too  great  use  of  sugar) ;  she  had  in 
her  ears  two  pearls,  with  very  rich  drops ;  she  wore  false  hair, 
and  that  red  ;  upon  her  head  she  had  a  small  crown,  reported 
to  be  made  of  some  of  the  gold  of  the  celebrated  Lunebourg 
table  ;  her  bosom  was  uncovered,  as  all  the  English  ladies  have 
it,  till  they  marry;  and  she  had  on  a  necklace  of  exceeding  fine 
jewels ;  her  hands  were  small,  her  fingers  long,  and  her  statnre 
neither  tall  nor  low ;  her  air  was  stately,  her  manner  of  speak- 
ing mild  and  obliging.  That  day  she  was  dressed  in  white 
silk,  bordered  with  pearls  of  the  size  of  beans,  and  over  it  a 
mantle  of  black  silk,  shot  with  silver  threads ;  her  train  was 
very  long,  the  end  of  it  borne  by  a  marchioness  ;  instead  of  a 
chain,  she  had  an  oblong  collar  of  gold  and  jewels. 

"  As  she  went  along  in  all  this  state  and  magnificence,  she 
spoke  very  graciously  first  to  one  and  then  to  another,  whether 
foreign  ministers,  or  those  who  attended  for  different  reasons, 
in  English,  French,  or  Italian;  for  besides  being  well  skilled  in 
Greek,  Latin,  and  the  languages  I  have  mentioned,  she  is  mis- 


278  CLASSIC  AND  HISTOltIC  PORTRAITS. 

tress  of  Spanish,  Scotch  and  Dutch;  whoever  speaks  to  her, 
it  is  kneeling ;  now  and  then  she  raises  some  with  her  hand. 
While  we  were  there,  M.  Slawata,  a  Bohemian  baron,  had  let- 
ters to  present  to  her,  and  she,  after  pulling  off  her  glove,  gave 
him  her  right  hand  to  kiss,  sparkling  with  rings  and  jewels,  a 
mark  of  particular  favor :  wherever  she  turned  her  face,  as  she 
was  going  along,  everybody  fell  down  on  their  knees.  The 
ladies  of  the  court  followed  next  to  her,  very  handsome  and 
well  shaped,  and  for  the  most  part  dressed  in  white ;  she  was 
guarded  on  each  side  by  the  gentlemen-pensioners,  fifty  in  num- 
ber, with  gilt  battle-axes. 

"  In  the  ante  chapel  next  the  hall  where  we  were,  petitions 
were  presented  to  her,  and  she  received  them  most  graciously, 
which  occasioned  the  exclamation  of  '  Long  live  Queen  Eliza- 
beth !'  She  answered  it  with  '  I  thank  you,  my  good  people  !' 
In  the  chapel  was  excellent  music ;  as  soon  as  it  and  the  ser- 
vice were  over,  which  scarce  exceeded  half  an  hour,  the  queen 
returned  to  the  same  state  and  order,  and  prepared  to  go  to 
dinner.  But  while  she  was  still  at  prayers.,  we  saw  her  table 
laid  out  with  the  following  solemnity.  A  gentleman  entered 
the  room  bearing  a  rod,  and  along  with  him  another  who  had 
a  table-cloth,  which,  after  they  had  both  kneeled  three  times 
with  the  utmost  veneration,  he  spread  upon  the  table ;  and 
after  kneeling  again  they  both  retired.  Then  came  two 
others,  one  with  the  rod  again,  the  other  with  a  saltseller,  a 
plate,  and  bread ;  when  they  had  kneeled,  as  the  others  had 
done,  and  placed  what  was  brought  upon  the  table,  they 
too  retired  with  the  same  ceremonies  performed  by  the  first. 

"  At  last  came  an  unmarried  lady  (we  were  told  she  was  a 
countess),  and  along  with  her  a  married  one,  bearing  atoasting- 
knife  ;  the  former  was  dressed  in  white  silk,  who,  when  she  had 
prostrated  herself  three  times  in  the  most  graceful  manner, 
approached  the  table,  and  rubbed  the  plates  with  bread  and 
Bait  with  as  much  care  as  if  the  queen  had  been  present ;  when 


QUEEN  ELIZABETH.  279 

they  had  waited  there  a  little  while,  the  yeomen  of  the  guards 
entered,  bare-headed,  clothed  in  scarlet,  with  a  golden  rose 
upon  their  backs,  bringing  in  at  each  turn  a  course  of  twenty- 
four  dishes,  served  in  plates,  most  of  it  gilt;  these  dishes  were 
received  by  a  gentleman  in  the  same  order  they  were  brought, 
and  placed  upon  the  table,  while  the  lady-taster  gave  to  each 
of  the  guards  a  mouthful  to  eat  of  the  particular  dish  he  had 
brought,  for  fear  of  any  poison. 

"  During  the  time  that  this  guard,  which  consists  of  the  tall- 
est and  stoutest  men  that  can  be  found  in  all  England,  being 
carefully  selected  for  this  service,  were  bringing  in  dinner, 
twelve  trumpeters,  and  two  kettle-drummers,  made  the  hall  ring 
for  half  an  hour  together.  At  the  end  of  all  this  ceremonial, 
a  number  of  unmarried  ladies  appeared,  who,  with  a  particular 
solemnity,  lifted  the  meat  off  the  table,  and  conveyed  it  into  the 
queen's  inner  and  more  private  chamber,  where,  after  she  had 
chosen  for  herself,  the  rest  goes  to  the  ladies  of  the  court. 
The  queen  dines  and  sups  alone  with  very  few  attendants;  and 
it  is  very  seldom  that  anybody,  foreigner  or  native,  is  admitted 
at  that  time,  and  then  only  at  the  intercession  of  somebody  in 
power."* 

Here  is  valuable  evidence  from  a  most  valuable  witness. 
"Walpole  remarks  with  pleasure;  "  Fortunately  so  memorable 
a  personage  as  Queen  Elizabeth  happened  to  fall  under  his 
notice !  The  excess  of  respectful  ceremonial  used  at  decking 
her  majesty's  table,  though  not  in  her  presence,  and  the  kind 
of  adoration  and  genuflexion  paid  to  her  person,  approach  to 
Eastern  homage.  When  we  observe  such  worship  offered  to 
an  old  woman  with  bare  neck,  black  teeth,  and  false  red  hair, 
it  makes  one  smile  ;  but  makes  one  reflect  what  masculine  sense 
was  couched  under  those  weaknesses,  and  which  could  com- 
mand such  awe  from  a  nation  like  England." 

*  "  Paul  Hentzner's  Travels  in  England  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth,"  p.  33.  Lond,   1797. 


280  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

Walpole  has  appended  to  his  translation  of  Hentzner  the 
"  Fragmenta  Regalia ;  or  observations  on  the  late  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, her  times  and  favorites,  by  Sir  Robert  Naunton,  Master 
of  the  Courts  of  Wards."  All  that  Naunton,  in  his  professed 
eulogium  of  Elizabeth,  tells  us  of  her  is,  that  "  she  was  of 
person  tall  (the  middle  size  rises  into  tallness  when  measured  by 
a  panegyrist),  of  hair  and  complexion  fair,  and  therewith  well- 
favored,  but  high-nosed,  of  limbs  and  features  neat,  and,  which 
added  to  the  lustre  of  these  external  graces,  of  a  stately  and 
majestic  comportment."  Farther  on  he  tells  us  that  "  her 
wonted  oath"  was  "  God's  death."  This  was  her  favorite 
affirmation,  but  it  was  certainly  not  her  solitary  one,  for  she 
had  abundant  variety,  and  swore  with  an  energy  becoming 
her  character. 

Elizabeth  covered  herself  with  rich  dress  and  cumbrous 
ornaments  gathered  from  all  quarters  of  the  worl  1  At  her 
death  it  is  said  that  there  were  three  thousand  costly  suits  in  her 
wardrobe.  Brantome,  who  thought  a  woman  amazingly  fine 
when  she  was  weighed  to  the  earth  with  gold  and  gems,  and 
who  also  speaks  with  rapture  of  the  dazzling  beauty  of  ladies 
of  sixty,  seventy,  and  fourscore  years  of  age,  had  seen 
Elizabeth,  as  he  expresses  it,  in  her  summer  and  in  her 
autumn,  though  not  in  her  winter,  and  he  thus  describes  her 
as  she  appeared  to  his  polite  and  courtier  eyes.  It  is  extremely 
awkward  for  Elizabeth  that  Brantome  places  this  account  of 
her  in  that  part  of  his  "  Dames  Galantes"  which  is  devoted 
to  "  amorous  old  women"  (veilles  amour ernes.) 

"  The  Queen  Elizabeth  of  England,"  he  says,  "  who  reigns 
at  this  day,  I  am  told  is  as  beautiful  as  ever;  which,  if  she 
really  is,  I  hold  her  as  a  beautiful  princess ;  for  I  have  seen 
her  in  her  summer  and  in  her  autumn ;  as  to  her  winter,  she 
approaches  it  closely,  if  she  be  not  now  in  it ;  for  it  is  a  long 
time  now  since  I  have  seen  her.  The  first  time  I  saw  her,  I 
know  what  age  she  was  then  said  to  be  of;  I  believe  that  what 


QUEEN    ELIZABETH.  281 

has  preserved  her  so  long  in  her  beauty,  is  that  she  has  never 
been  married,  nor  has  borne  the  weight  of  marriage,  which 
is  very  burdensome,  and  particularly  when  one  has  several 
children."* 

Elizabeth's  continual  refusals  of  marriage,  notwithstanding 
her  evident  admiration  of  handsome  courtiers,  has  been 
appealed  to  amongst  other  proofs  of  her  guilt  by  those  writers 
who  have  described  her  as  a  licentious  princess.  The  evidence 
against  her  on  this  score  is  certainly  very  imperfect,  and  her 
celibacy  is  now  generally  accounted  for  from  an  innocent 
cause.  This  view  is  confirmed  by  some  passages  in  her 
answers  to  the  applications  made  to  her  by  the  Parliament 
praying  her  to  take  a  husband,  and  it  is  alluded  to  by  the 
historians  Camden  and  Mezerai,  as  well  as  by  Amelotte  de 
la  Houssaye,  Bayle  and  various  other  subsequent  writers. 

*  Brantorae,  "  Dames  Galantes,"  (Euvres,  iv,  188  . 


MARY    QUEEN    OF     SCOTS 


The  personal  charms  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  have  been 
more  extensively  celebrated  than  those  of  any  other  woman 
of  modern  times,  and  more  so,  perhaps,  than  those  of  any 
woman  in  all  history,  Helen  of  Troy  alone  excepted.  It  is 
possible,  had  she  led  a  life  unmarked  by  romantic  incidents,  or 
had  her  history  been  less  deeply  tragical  from  her  childhood 
to  the  tomb  than  it  was,  that  the  praise  of  her  beauty  would 
have  been  less  extravagant,  though  it  is  not  possible  to  doubt 
that  with  this  fatal  gift— fatal  to  her,  certainly — she  was 
abundantly  endowed. 

The  modern  notions  of  her  beauty  are  far  from  being  distinct 
or  well  settled.  This  certainly  does  not  arise  from  any  want 
of  pictures  claiming  to  be  original  portraits  of  Mary,  which 
are  to  be  found  in  abundance  in  the  mansions  of  aristocratic 
collectors  in  England  and  on  the  continent.  There  was  an 
Italian  painter,  who  has  obtained  the  name  of  Lippo  dalle 
Madonne,  or  "  Phillip  of  the  Madonmis,"  on  account  of  his 
constantly  employing  himself  in  the  painting  of  heads  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  Mary.  In  the  same  way,  a  great  many 
painters  have  occupied  themselves  in  multiplying  portraits  of 
Mary  Queen  of  Scots.     The  greater  number  of  these  portraits 

(282 


MARY    QUEEN  OF  SCOTS.  283 

may  be  fairly  considered  as  works  of  imagination,  com- 
pounded out  of  such  features  as  the  painter  thought  would 
together  make  a  fine  picture. 

Such  beauties  of  the  artist's  imagination,  are  always,  as 
if  by  a  regular  law,  infinitely  inferior  to  the  portraits  of  real 
women  of  ordinary  comeliness.  Even  when  he  attempts  to 
improve  nature  herself  out  of  the  materials  which  she  furnishes 
him,  the  painter  always  fails.  "  The  Greek,"  says  Jeremy 
Taylor,  "  that  designed  the  most  exquisite  picture  that  could 
be  imagined,  fancied  the  eye  of  Chione,  and  the  hair  of 
Psegnium  and  Tarsia's  lip,  Philenium's  chin  and  the  forehead 
of  Delphia,  and  set  them  all  on  Melphidippa's  neck  and 
thought  that  he  should  outdo  both  art  and  nature.  J3ut  when 
he  came  to  view  the  proportions,  he  found  that  what  was  excel- 
lent  in  Tarsia  did  not  agree  with  the  other  excellency  of 
Philenium,  and  that  though,  singly  they  were  rare  pieces,  yet 
in  the  whole  they  made  an  ugly  face." 

It  is  not  given  to  mortal  painter  either  to  create  by  his 
imagination  or  compound  by  his  learning,  anything  to  compare 
with  the  faces  which  are  to  be  seen  in  profusion  in  the  real 
world.  A  perfectly  beautiful  face  when  we  meet  with  it  in 
painting,  is  sure  to  be  the  face  of  an  individual.  Look  over 
the  pages  of  a  book  of  imaginary  beauties,  "  Idols  of  Memory," 
"  Flowers  of  Loveliness,"  "Dreams  of  my  Youth,"  and  so; 
and  then  turn  to  Vandyk's  portrait  of  Margaret  Lemon  in  the 
gallery  at  Hampton  Palace,  and  see  and  feel  how  inferior  the 
brightest  imagination  of  a  conceited  painter  is  to  the  workman- 
ship of  Heaven. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  Mary's  real  beauty  has  suffered  from 
the  imagination  of  painters.  Very  few  of  the  extant  portraits  of  , 
her  have  any  beauty  or  grace  about  them  at  all.  I  have  scarce 
ly  seen  one  with  a  fine  forehead  or  even  an  approach  to  the 
shape  of  a  fine  forehead — that  sweetly  arched  brow  which  we 
see  in  the  real  portraits  of  Lady  Denham,  the  Duchess  of  Soui- 


284  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

erset,  Miss  Bagot,  or  many  others  of  Sir  Peter  Lely's  beauties, 
and  in  the  portraits  of  the  fascinating  Ninon  de  l'Enclos.  Yet 
this  fine  form  of  head  is  by  no  means  a  rarity  in  real  life.  Al- 
most all  the  portraits  of  Mary  agree  in  destroying  the  beauty  of 
the  lower  part  of  the  face  by  surmounting  it  with  an  offensively 
high  broad  and  square-formed  forehead 

It  is  probable  that  Mary,  With  all  her  beauty  otherwise,  had 
such  a  forehead  ;  for  mere  imagination,  which  when  trusted  to 
always  leads  painters  far  astray  from  true  beauty,  would 
have  taught  them  to  avoid  the  unpardonable  error  of  giving 
to  a  woman  so  renowned  for  the  effect  of  her  charms  a  fore- 
head which  repels  a  refined  taste  ;  and  besides  this  they 
had  the  example  exquisitely  formed  and  graceful  foreheads 
presented  to  them  in  the  Venuses,  Cleopatras  and  Magdalenes 
of  the  great  masters. 

The  celebrated  picture  of  Mary  at  Hardwicke,  is  thus 
described  by  Mrs.  Jameson.  It  is  "  a  full-length,  in  a  mourning 
habit  with  a  white  cap  (of  her  own  peculiar  fashion)  and  a  veil 
of  white  gauze.  TKis  I  believe  is  the  celebrated  picture  so  often 
copied  and  engraved.  It  is  dated  1578,  the  twenty-sixth  year  of 
her  age  and  the  tenth  of  her  captivity.  The  figure  is  elegant 
and  the  face  pensive  and  sweet."  This  is  the  picture  of  Mary 
which,  as  it  appears  in  prints  makes  the  nearest  approach  to  the 
likeness  of  a  beauty. 

"The  lovely  picture  by  Zucchero,"  continues  Mrs.  Jameson,  "is 
at  Chiswick.  There  is  another  small  head  of  her  in  a  cap  and 
feathers  at  Hardwicke,  said  to  have  been  painted  in  France. 
The  turn  of  the  head  is  airy  and  graceful.  As  to  the  features 
they  are  so  much  marred  by  some  soi-disant  restorer  that  it  is 
difficult  to  say  what  they  may  have  been  originally."* 

Mary  was  tall  in  person  and  gracefully  formed.     Her  hair, 
which,  in  childhood  or  girlhood,  was  yellow,  grew  to   a  dark 
auburn  in  womanhood,  fading  in  the  colour  afterwards,  and 
*  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  Visits  and  Sketches,"  vol.  n.,  p.  201. 


MARY    QUEEN    OF  SCOTS.  285 

becoming  grey  before  her  death,  with  suffering  and  grief.  Her 
hair,  says  Brantome,  "  so  beautiful,  fair,  and  ashy — si  beaux,  si 
blonds,  et  cendres"  Mary,  however,  like  her  royal  cousin 
Elizabeth,  who  had  more  need  of  deceit,  often  wore  false 
locks  of  yellow  or  red.  Her  eyes  were  grey,  her  face  was 
oval,  and  the  lower  part  was  well  formed ;  the  chin,  which 
approached  to  be  what  is  called  a  double  chin,  being  extremely 
handsome. 

Her  grief  for  the  death  of  the  husband  of  her  girlhood  was 
no  doubt  sincere ;  but  we  are  not  obliged  to  believe  Brantome 
when  he  assures  us  that  she  lost  all  her  colour  from  sorrow 
at  the  death  of  the  Dauphin.  Her  face,  however,  in  woman- 
hood is  said  to  have  been  pale ;  her  complexion  generally  was 
clear.  In  her  latter  days  her  hair,  as  noticed  before,  became 
grey ;  but  she  did  not  pine  away  into  fleshlessness  with  grief, 
but  grew  corpulent.  Yet  when  she  appeared  on  the  scaffold 
at  Fotheringay,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  a  life,  the  last 
eighteen  years  of  which  had  been  passed  in  dreary  imprison- 
ment, she  still  was  a  beautiful  woman. 

As  far  as  being  real  pictures  of  her  style  of  dressing,  all  the 
old  portraits  of  Mary  may  be  depended  on  as  authentic  records. 
It  is  remarkable  that  though  no  one  of  these  dresses  is  calcula- 
ted to  show  her  figure  to  advantage,  her  dresses,  even  the  stif- 
fest  of  them,  are  free  from  the  cumbersomeness  so  general  in 
the  female  attire  of  the  times.  What  a  contrast  does  the  most 
formal  and  courtly  of  her  suits  present  to  the  dress  of  Eliza- 
beth, which  always  appears  to  do  injustice  to  her  person  by 
concealing  her  well  formed  shoulders  ! 

The  portraits  of  Mary,  as  a  young  woman,  often  represent  her 
in  a  kind  of  riding-dress — a  dress  disagreeable  in  itself,  and 
extremely  unfavourable  for  a  portrait — helping,  in  her  case,  by 
its  close  fastening  up  to  the  throat  and  entire  want  of  freedom 
and  openness,  the  ill  effect  of  the  masculine  forehead  generally 


286  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

given  to  her,  and  making  her  bear  a  very  offensive  resemblance 
to  a  handsome  young  man. 

Brantome,  who  it  is  to  be  recollected  accompanied  Mary  to 
Scotland  after  the  death  of  the  Dauphin,  has  some  highly 
characteristic  remarks  on  her  dress.  Such  he  tells  us,  were  the 
charms  of  her  person,  that  when  she  was  dressed  like  a  savage 
as  he  had  seen  her,  after  the  barbarous  fashion  of  the  savages 
of  her  country,  she  appeared  in  a  mortal  body  and  in 
barbarous  and  rude  costume)  a  true  goddess.  ,  "  What 
then  would  she  appear,"  he  exclaims  in  a  fine  and  truly 
Parisian  rapture  and  in  the  most  sublime  style  of  a  French 
dressmaker,  "  what  then  would  she  appear  in  her  fine  and  rich 
garments,  either  French  or  Spanish,  or  with  her  Italian  bonnet, 
or  in  her  white  full  mourning  dress  in  which  she  looked  so 
beautiful;  for  the  whiteness  of  her  complexion  contended . for 
the  victory  with  her  veil ;  but  in  the  end  the  art  of  her  veil  lest 
the  day,  and  the  snow  of  her  lovely  face  outshone  the  other. r* 
As  to  her  discourse,  Brantome  tells  us  such  was  the  grace  of 
her  talking,  that  the  rude  and  barbarous  and  unseemly  lan- 
guage of  her  country  became  very  beautiful  and  agreeable  in 
her,  "  but  not  in  others,"  he  adds.  All  this  is  truly  and 
delightfully  after  the  manner  of  Brantome. 

Mary  had  learned  dressing,  or  the  art  of  being  dressed,  at 
the  court  of  Catharine  de'  Medici,  and  was  herself  a  woman  of 
the  greatest  good  taste.  All  the  continental  fashions  of  dress- 
ing were  well  enough  known  amongst  the  ladies  of  Scotland 
long  before  Brantome  came  amongst  them  ;  but  it  may  readily 
be  conceded,  that  the  women  of  the  British  Islands  of  the 
highest  rank  will  never  to  the  end  of  time  be  able  to  put  their 
garments  about  them,  with  the  elegant  grace  and  ease  which 
are  common  amongst  all  women  in  France,  Spain  and  Italy. 
With  Brantome  all  that  was  French  was  beyond  improvement. 

I  do  not  know  if  the  inherent  meanness  and  poverty  of  the 
*  Brantome,  "  Dames  Illustres,"  CEuvres,  torn,  n,  p.  108. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS.  2S7 

French  language,  its  harsh  consonantal,  and  perhaps  still  more 
disagreeable  diphthong  sounds  have  ever  been  acknowledged 
— perhaps  they  have  never  been  perceived  by  any  Frenchman, 
for  the  French  are  a  thoroughly  patriotic  people.  As  to  the 
question  of  language,  however,  and  of  comparative  euphony, 
there  need  be  no  hesitation  in  declaring  the  Scottish  language 
of  the  sixteenth  century  to  have  been  a  very  superior  language 
to  the  French  Court  language  of  any  century.  Brantome's 
tastes,  however,  were  wholly  conventional,  and  his  standard 
was  the  French  Court.  By  that  standard  he  judged  not  only  of 
fashions  and  of  manners,  but  of  morals,  and  it  is  to  be  feared 
even  of  women's  faces.  And  as.this  was  his  general  standard, 
so  his  particular  standard  was  the  French  Court  exactly  as 
it  existed  in  his  own  day,  at  the  very  period  at  which  he  wrote. 
Thus,  though  Isabella  of  Bavaria,  the  Queen  of  Charles 
VI,  and  the  ladies  of  her  Court  adopted  the  style  of  dress 
which  they  considered  capable  of  setting  off  their  beauty  to 
the  best  advantage,  Brantome  looking  to  their  costume,  as  it 
appeared  in  the  tapestries  of  the  j)eriod,  treats  it  with  contempt 
as  compared  wTith  the  fashions  introduced  by  Margaret  of 
France  and  Navarre  in  his  time.*  Indeed,  if  we  may  believe 
him,  neither  ancient  nor  modern,  mortal  nor  immortal  women 
were  ever  dressed  like  the  women  of  the  French  Court  in  his 
time.  Speaking  of  the  voluptuous  Margaret's  dress,  he  says, 
"  I  have  seen  her  sometimes,  and  so  have  others  beside  me, 
dressed  in  a  robe  of  white  satin,  covered  with  tinsel  with  a  lit- 
tle carnation,  with  a  veil  of  tan-colored  crape  or  Roman  gauze, 
thrown  over  her  head  carelessly,  but  never  was  anything  so 
beautiful;  and  what  ever  may  be  said  of  the  goddesses  of  old 
or  of  the  empresses,  as  we  see  them  in  the  ancient  medals 
pompously  adorned,  they  looked  like  mere  chamber-maids 
beside  her."t 

*   Brantome,  "  Dames  Illustres, '   CEuvres,  torn,  n,  p.    192. 
tlbid.  11,  p.  191. 


288  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

I  think  a  refined  taste  would  uphold  the  elegance  of  the 
head-dress  of  Olympias,  the  mother  of  Alexander,  in  the  medal 
to  which  I  have  referred  in  another  place,  in  opposition  to  the 
most  elegant  head-dress  to  be  seen  in  any  French  picture  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  Speaking  elsewhere,  Brantome  says  : 
"  The  Roman  ladies,  as  they  are  to  be  seen  in  the  ancient 
statues  and  medals,  will  be  found  with  their  head-dresses  and 
their  garments  in  perfection,  and  very  fit  to  make  them  be  loved; 
now  our  French  ladies  surpass  all,  but  it  is  to  the  Queen  of 
Navarre  that  they  owe  thanks." 

This  Queen,  whose  fine  taste  is  thus  enthusiastically  cele- 
brated, was  a  very  tall  and  stout  woman.  She  barely  preser- 
ved decency  in  her  manners,  and  is  said  to  have  studied  inven- 
tions to  make  herself  beloved,  such  as  are  only  to  be  read  of 
in  amorous  romances. 

Mary  did  not  neglect  the  care  of  her  beauty  during  her  long 
imprisonment  in  Fotheringhay  Castle.  Brantome  is  rapturous 
about  the  charms  of  her  person,  which  the  awkwardness  of  the 
executioner  unexpectedly  exposed,  when  he  tore  off  the  body 
of  her  gown  and  her  low  collar.  But  Mary,  who  like  Anne 
Bullen,  studied  effect  in  death,  had  prepared  to  be  charming 
in  the  last  scene ;  and  like  Anne  Bullen  she  was  not  ouly  pious 
but  really  witty  in  her  dying  moments.  She  hastily  gathered 
her  dress  about  her,  and  pleasantly  reproved  the  executioner 
by  saying :  "  I  am  really  not  in  the  habit  of  putting  off  my 
clothes  before  so  much  company."  If  Mary  had  not  murder 
ed  the  worthless  and  heartless  Darnley,  she  would  have  been 
deservedly  ranked  amongst  the  most  amiable  of  women; 
while  her  long  captivity,  and  her  death  on  the  scaffold — cer- 
tainly not  on  account  of  her  great  crime — fully  entitle  her  to 
be  regarded  as  a  martyr  to  her  own  beauty,  the  victim  of 
another  woman  who  envied  her  and  abhorred  her  for  her 
charms,  and  who,  if  Mary  had  not  been  so  provokingly  lovely, 

*  Brantome,  CEuvres,  torn.  Ill    p.  289. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS.  289 

would  have  easily  pardoned  her  for  the  death  of  a  husband 
who  had  proved  himself  wholly  undeserving  of  her  love  or  even 
respect.  The  murderess  of  Darnley  had  real  injuries  to 
avenge ;  the  assassins  of  Eizzio  had  simply  a  thirst  for  blood  to 
gratify. 

Mary  was  accomplished  in  singing,  in  playing  on  the  virgin- 
als and  in  dancing. 

Miss  Strickland  has  prefixed  to  her  history  of  Mary,  in  her 
"  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland,"  an  engraving  from  the 
famous  painting  in  Culzean  Castle,  which  was  presented  to  the 
Earl  of  Cassilis  by  Mary  herself.  It  represents  Mary  in  the 
fourteenth  year  of  her  age,  in  the  days  of  her  happiness.  Miss 
Strickland's  description  of  the  original  painting  is  well  worthy 
of  quotation.^  "  This  most  beautiful  and  undoubted  likeness 
of  Mary  Stuart,"  she  says,  "  represents  her  in  the  morning 
flower  of  her  charms,  when  she  appeared  at  the  summit  of  all 
earthly  felicity  and  grandeur.  It  is  in  a  nobler  style  of  portrait 
painting  than  that  of  Zucchero,  and  worthy  of  Titian  or  Guerci- 
no.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  an  engraving  to  do  justice  to  a 
picture,  of  which  the  tone  and  coloring  are  so  exquisite.  The 
perfection  of  features  and  contour  is  there  united  with  femin- 
ine softness,  and  the  expression  of  commanding  intellect.  Her 
hair  is  of  a  rich  chesnut  tint,  almost  black,  which  Nicholas 
"White  (who  had  ascertained  the  fact  from  her  ladies)  assures 
us  was  its  real  color.  Her  complexion  is  that  of  a  delicate 
brunette,  clear  and  glowing ;  and  this  accords  with  the  dark- 
ness of  her  eyes,  hair,  and  majestic  eyebrows.  Her  hair  is 
parted  in  wide  bands  across  the  forehead,  and  rolled  back  in  a 
large  curl  on  each  temple,  above  the  small  delicately  moulded 
ears.  She  wears  a  little  round  crimson  velvet  cap,  embroid- 
ered with  gold  and  ornamented  with  gems,  placed  almost  at 
the  back  of  her  head,  resembling  indeed  a  Greek  cap,  with 
this  difference,  that  a  coronal  frontlet  is  formed  by  the 
disposition    of    the    pearls,    which    gives    a    regal    charac- 


290  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

ter  to  the  head-dress.  Her  dress  is  of  very  rich  crimson 
damask  embroidered  with  gold  and  ornamented  with  gems. 
It  fits  tight  to  her  bust  and  taper  waist,  which  is  long  and 
slender;  so  is  her  gracefully  turned  throat.  She  has  balloon 
shaped  tops  to  her  sleeves,  rising  above  the  natural  curve  of 
her  shoulders.  Her  dress  is  finished  at  the  throat  with  a  collar 
band,  supporting  a  lawn  collarette,  with  a  finely  quilted  demi- 
ruff.  Her  only  ornament  is  a  string  of  large  round  beads, 
carelessly  knotted  about  her  throat  from  which  depends  an 
amethyst  cross."* 

The  portrait,  thus  described  and  thus  admired  by  Miss 
Strickland,  is  not  that  of  a  female  beauty.  Making  every 
allowance  for  the  defect  of  the  engraving  in  wanting  the 
exquisite  coloring  of  the  painting,  the  head  is  altogether  unwo- 
manly in  form,  and  form  is  the  foundation  of  beauty  in  a  face. 
The  forehead — that  large  and  ungracefully  shaped  forehead — 
it  need  hardly  be  said  would  have  repelled  Zeuxis  or  Guido ;  it 
is  a  forehead  that  might  be  very  becoming  in  a  stupid  professor 
of  mathematics.  No  painter,  left  to  himself  to  devise  a  female 
face,  would  dare  to  bestow  such  a  forehead  as  this  upon  it. 

The  admiration  of  such  foreheads  in  women  is  a  depravity 

of  modern  times,  and  is  yet  and  ever  will  be  confined  to  a  few 

sectarians  in  taste.     The  ancients — erring  perhaps  on  the  other 

side,  but  the  safe  and  gentle  side — sighed  for  narrow  and  low 

foreheads.     I  cannot  recollect  in  any  ancient  writer  a  passage 

in  praise  of  a  large  forehead   in   a   woman. f     Horace  calls 

Lycoris  "  illustrious"  for  her  slender  forehead. 

"  Insignem  tenui  fronte  Lycorida 
Cyri  torret  amor." 

*  Miss  Strickland,  "  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  Scotland  "  vol.  in.,  p.  94. 

t  In  one  of  the  elegies  attributed  to  Cornelius  Gallus  the  phrase  Irons 
libera  occurs  : 

"Nigra  supercilia,  et  frons  libera,  lumina  nigra 
Urebant  animura  ssepe  notata  meum. " 
It  would  surely  be  a  forcing  of  the  meaning  of  the  passage  to  make  a 
broad  forehead  out  of  this.     Frons  libera  is  a  free  smooth  brow. 


MARY  QUEEN  OF  SCOTS.  291 

"Winkelman,who  has  noticed  this  passage  in  his  work  on 
"  Ancient  Art,"  tells  us  that  the  Greek  women,  where  the  real 
beauty  was  wanting,  gave  the  appearance  of  loveliness  to  their 
foreheads  by  fastening  a  band  below  their  hair ;  and  that  the 
beautiful  women  of  Circassia  produce  the  same  effect  by  an 
ingenious  manner  of  combing  down  their  locks.  Petronius,  in 
his  exquisite  picture  of  Circe — in  which  he  has  assembled  so 
many  points  of  high  beauty — the  naturally  curled  hair  flowing 
down  on  her  shoulders,  and  the  eyebrows  almost  joined,  does 
not  forget  to  describe  the  forehead  as  "  very  small."* 

From  a  passage  in  Montaigne,  founded  no  doubt  on  the 
relations  of  travellers,  it  appears  that  the  charm  of  low  foreheads 
is  understood  by  the  women  of  Mexico ;  and  that  in  order  to 
produce  its  appearance,  they  make  use  of  every  art  to  make  the 
hair  grow  down  on  their  brows,  f 

The  oldest  seeming  commendation  of  a  large  forehead  in  a 
woman,  that  I  have  happened  to  meet  with,  occurs  in  the  Can- 
zone  of  Dante.  "  Io  miro  i  crespi  e  gli  biondi  capegli,"  where 
he  gives  a  detailed  and  very  fine  description  of  his  mistress, 
and  praises,  as  appears,  her  "  ample  forehead,"  "  la  spaziosa 
fronte."  But,  in  justice  to  Beatrice,  may  not  her  lover's  spaziosa 
be  the  Latin  "  speciosa,"  beautiful  ?  Chaucer  however,  follow 
ing  soon  after  Dante,  is  unequivocal  in  praising  the  broad  fore- 
head of  the  prioress. 

"  Sickerly  she  had  a  fair  forehead ; 
It  was  almost  a  span  broad,  I  trow." 

The  celebrated  verses,  which  enumerate  the  thirty  points  of 

woman's  beauty,  all  of  which  are  said  to  have  been  assembled 

together  in  Helen  of  Troy,  are  of  unknown  authorship.     They 

have  been  translated  into  most   languages,  and   are  found   in 

French,  Latin,  Italian,  and  Spanish,  the  French  being  believed 

to  be  the  original  ;f  but  they  have  never  been  regarded  as 

#  Petronius,  "Satyricon."  p.  96.     Paris,  1601. 

t  "Los  Mexicaines  content  entres  les  beautez,  la  petitasse  du  fronte  et 


292  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

older  than  th^  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In 
these  lines,  it  is  laid  down  that  the  perfect  woman  must  have 
three  parts  broad,  "  the  breast,  the  forehead,  and  the  space 
between  the  eyes."*  It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  out  of 
these  three,  the  ancients  desired  two — the  two  latter — to  be 
narrow.  But  there  are  great  offences  against  sound  taste  in 
this  enumeration  of  the  thirty  points ;  and  if  Helen  has  been 
such  as  this  writer  supposes  her  to  have  been,  Paris  would 
never  have  stolen  her  away — 

"  Trojaque  nunc  stares,  Priamique  arx  alta  maneres." 

ou  elles  se  defont  le  poil,  par  tout  le  reste  du  corps,  eile3  lc  nourrissent 
au  front  et  peuplent  par  art." — Montaigne,  "  Essais,"  liv.  ii,  c   12. 

*  "  Tres  anchas  ;  los  pechos,  la  frente,  y  el  entrecejo." 


CERVANTES 


It  is  fortunate  that  the  immortal  author  of  "  Don  Quixote," 
of  whose  romantic  personal  history,  all  that  we  know  is  so  ex- 
tremely interesting,  as  all  that  we  learn  of  his  character  is  so 
amiable,  has  not  neglected,  while  giving  us  some  hints  in  the 
most  modest  manner  about  the  chief  points  in  his  adventures, 
to  draw  a  striking  picture  of  himself,  according  in  every  respect 
with  the  animated  and  intellectual  portraits  of  him  which  have 
come  down  to  our  times.  This  picture  occurs  in  the  prologue 
to  his  novels,  and  refers  to  the  portrait  made  of  him  by  Don 
Juan  de  Jaregui,  to  be  engraved  for  this  work,  in  order  to 
satisfy  the  desires  of  those  who  wished  to  know  what  the  face 
and  figure  of  the  author  were  like.  Cervantes  tells  us  that 
his  face  is  oval,  his  hair  chestnut  color,  his  forehead  smooth 
and  free  (lisa  i  disembarazada,)  his  eyes  cheerful,  his  nose 
crooked  (corbo,)  though  well  proportioned  ;  his  beard  silvery, 
though  not  twenty  years  ago  it  was  golden ;  his  moustaches 
large,  the  mouth  small,  the  teeth  neither  small  nor  large,  be- 
cause there  are  but  six  of  them,  and  these  ill-conditioned,  and 
worse  placed,  as  they  have  no  communication  the  one  with  the 
other ;  the  body  between  the  two  extremes,  neither  large  nor 
small;  the  complexion  clear,  rather  fair  than  brown;  rather 
round  in  the  shoulders,  and  not  very  light  in  the  feet. 


294  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

He  goes  on  to  tell  us  that  he  lost  his  left  hand  in  the  naval 
battle  of  Lepanto  by  the  shot  of  an  arquebuss  ;  "  a  wound," 
he  says,  with  characteristic  nobility  of  spirit,  "  which  he  re- 
gards as  beautiful  {her  mom  t)  as  he  received  it  in  the  most 
memorable  and  lofty  occasion  which  these  past  ages  have  seen, 
or  those  to  come  may  hope  to  see,  fighting  under  the  conquer- 
ing banners  of  the  son  of  that  thunderbolt  of  wrar  Charles  V. 
of  happy  memory."* 

This  is  quite  in  the  spirit  of  Cervantes  himself,  and  of  the 
noble  age  of  Spanish  literature,  when  all  her  poets  and  great 
authors  were  soldiers  and  adventurers  who  had  fought  at  home 
and  abroad,  by  sea  and  land — Cervantes,  Lope  de  Vega,  Men- 
doza,  Boscan,  Montemayor,  Garcilazo,  Ercilla,  Calderon  (first 
a  soldier  and  then  a  priest). 

The  fighting  periods  in  all  civilized  countries  are,  as  was 
particularly  and  pre-eminently  the  case  in  ancient  Greece  and 
modern  Spain,  those  periods  in  which  what  are  sometimes 
called  "  the  arts  of  peace"  flourish  most  prosperous]}'-,  and 
when  literary  genius  has  shone  forth  with  the  greatest  bril- 
liancy. Socrates,  Eschylus,  Sophocles,  and  Xenophon,  were 
all  themselves  men  who  fought  their  countries'  battles,  as  well 
as  conferred  honor  on  her  literature.  All  this  is  quite  in  the 
teeth  of  the  statements  made  at  the  conferences  of  the  Peace 
Society,  but  in  perfect  accordance  with  the  truth  of  history. 

With  our  Northern  notions,  which  associate  black  hair  with 
the  pictures  of  the  people  of  the  South,  we  are  often  surprised 
in  reading  how  many  distinguished  men  of  Spain  and  Italy 
have  had  brown,  yellow,  or  red  hair.  We  find  Cervantes  with 
brown  hair  on  his  head,  and  his  beard  yellow  ;  Camoens,  the 
glory  of  Portugal,  and  Tasso,  the  great  epic  poet  of  Italy,  with 

*  "Vida  de  Miguel  de  Cervantes  Saavedra,"  autor,  "  Don  Gregorio 
Mayans  i  Siscar,"  p.  174  :  prefixed  to  the  vida  y  Hcchos  del  Ingenioso 
Hidalgo  Don  Quixote."     Ilaya,  1744. 


CERVANTES.  2  9  5 

yellow  hair;  and  Alfieri,  who,  in  our  time,  revived  the  literary 
spirit  of  his  country,  rejoicing  like  the  Eoman  Sylla,  and  en- 
chanting the  other  sex  with  his  flowing  locks. 

In  the  case  of  the  women  of  Cervantes's  times,  the  frequent 
occurrence  of  golden  hair  may  be  accounted  for  from  the  cir- 
cumstance that,  as  the  passion  for  yellow  hair  ran  very  high  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  those  women  who  were  afflicted  with 
the  misfortune  of  having  black,  imitated  the  color  which  in- 
spired love  by  wearing  a  false  head-dress,  as  did  the  ancient 
Messalina  when,  in  matronly  years,  she  wished  to  allure  her 
lovers  by  the  show  of  youthful  beauty,  or  practised  that 
strange  and  apparently  lost  art  of  discharging  the  black  color 
and  assuming  the  golden,  which  was  known  in  ancient  Greece 
to  both  women  and  men,  which,  in  the  days  of  Tertullian,  was 
employed  by  his  countrywomen  of  Carthage  upon  their  strong, 
vigorous,  African  black  hair — that  great  denouncer  of  women's 
vanities,  describing,  as  I  have  noticed  before,  the  torture  and 
danger  to  which  they  subjected  themselves  in  order  to  make 
themselves  beautiful ;  and  which  was  unquestionably  both 
known  and  universally  practised  in  Europe  in  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  taste  of  Cervantes  in  women's  hair  was  the  taste  of  his 
age.  He  could  have  adorned  the  head  of  his  hero's  imaginary 
mistress  with  hair  of  any  color  that  he  chose — and  he  has  cho- 
sen to  make  it  yellow — in  the  splendid  description  of  her  given 
by  her  romantic  lover. 

"  I  can  only  declare,"  said  Don  Quixote  to  Senor  Vivaldo, 
after  heaving  a  deep  sigh,  "  that  her  name  is  Dulcinea ;  her 
country  Toboso,  in  La  Mancha ;  her  rank  at  least  that  of  a 
princess,  seeing  that  she  is  my  queen  and  mistress  ;  her  beauty 
superhuman,  since  in  her  are  truly  met  all  the  impossible  and 
chimerical  beauties  which  poets  give  to  their  ladies  ;  her  hair 
is  golden,  her  forehead  the  fields  of  Elysium,  her  eyebrows  the 
bow  of  heaven,  her  eyes  suns,  her  lips  coral,  her  teeth  pearls, 


296  CLAFSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

her  neck  alabaster,  her  bosom  marble,  her  hands  ivory,  her 
whiteness  that  of  snow  ;  while  all  of  her  that  modesty  conceals 
from  human  vision  is  such,  as  I  think  and  understand,  that  a 
discreet  consideration  can  only  extol,  but  must  not  compare 
with  anything." 

Except  in  reference  to  the  absolutely  essential  beauty  of 
yellow  hair,  all  this,  though  extremely  eloquent,  is  sufficiently 
vague  and  undefined. 

There  was  a  curious  resemblance  between  Cervantes,  the 
glory  of  Spain,  and  Camoens,  the  glory  of  Portugal,  extending 
to  their  general  history,  their  captivity,  poverty,  genius,  chival- 
rous spirit,  and  personal  appearance.  Both  were  soldiers  and 
literary  men  of  a  highly  poetical  character.  Cervantes  lost 
his  left  hand  in  battle ;  Camoens  his  right  eye.  It  has  been 
remarked,  as  to  personal  appearance,  that  the  nose  of  Cer- 
vantes, the  peculiar  characteristic  of  which  is  the  elevation  in 
the  middle,  is  exactly  the  nose  of  Camoens  as  seen  in  his  por- 
traits.    The  complexion  of  the  two  was  nearly  the  same. 

Camoen?s  early  biographer,  Manoel  Severin  de  Faria,  tells 
us  that  the  poet  was  of  middle  stature,  with  a  full  face,  his 
countenance  a  little  lowering  (which  that  of  Cervantes  was  not 
any  more  than  his  spirit,)  his  nose  long,  raised  in  the  middle, 
and  large  at  the  end.  This  is  the  nose  of  Cervantes  accurately 
described.  In  his  youth,  the  hair  of  Camoens,  which  after- 
wards became  grey  with  sorrow  and  suffering,  is  described  as 
being  yellow  like  saffron.  It  is  hardly  worth  mentioning  that 
this  elevation  in  the  middle  of  the  nose,  as  described  in  Cer- 
vantes and  Camoens,  has  been  declared,  by  some  whimsical 
observers,  to  be  a  physiognomical  characteristic  of  genius. 

No  romances  are  finer  than  the  histories,  as  far  as  they  have 
been  related,  of  Cervantes  and  Camoens,  particularly  of  the 
cheerful  Cervantes.  It  is  not  generally  known  that  Madrid 
has  not  the  undisputed  reputation  of  his  birth  ;  and  that  as 
several  cities  strove  for  the  honor  of  having  produced  Homer, 


CERVANTES.  297 

there  is  a  contention  between  four  places  in  Spain  for  the 
glory  of  giving  Cervantes  to  the  world,  the  claims  of  Madrid 
being  denied  by  Esquivias,  Seville,  and  Lucena.  The  verses 
in  praise  of  Madrid  cited  from  Cervantes'  own  "  Viage  del 
Parnaso,"  are  far  from  being  conclusive  in  favor  of  the  Span- 
ish capital. 

Cervantes  died  in  the  same  year  and  in  the  same  month, 
though  it  is  not  positively  established  that  it  was  on  the  same 
day,  with  Shakspere — that  23d  of  April  which  is  the  anniver- 
sary both  of  the  birth  and  the  death  of  England's  great  dra- 
matist, and  by  a  curious  comcidence  is  also  the  anniversary  of 
the  feast  of  England's  patron  saint,  George  of  Cappadocia. 
The  death  of  Cervantes,  on  whose  life,  as,  on  his  writings, 
there  is  no  stain  of  evil  or  unworthiness,  is  highly  interesting. 
He  lived  and  died  poor  but  contented ;  feeling,  as  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  every  great  man,  neglected  by  his  own 
age,  has  felt,  that  just  posterity  would  amply  repay  him  for 
the  praises  withheld  from  him  by  his  contemporaries. 

"  I  have  given,"  he  says  in  his  u  Viage  del  Parnaso,"  in 
*  Don  Quixote '  an  amusement  to  the  melancholy  and  angry 
breast,  in  every  season  and  for  all  time." 

"  Yo  he  dado  en  Don  Quijote  passatiempo 
Al  pecho  melancolico  i  mohino 
En  qualquiera  savon,  en  todo  tiempo." 

The  reader  who  is  able  to  form  a  conception  of  the  plea- 
sures of  a  life  of  literary  labor,  is  delighted  to  hear  that  the 
last  work  of  the  studious  Bayle  was  to  send  a  revised  proof- 
sheet  to  the  printer.  Cervantes  died  still  more  decidedly  in 
harness.  He  wrote  on  to  the  last  under  the  increasing  afflic- 
tion of  dropsy,  and  completed  his  romance  of  "  Persiles  and 
Segismunda."  On  the  18th  of  April,  1616,  wishing  "to  go 
forth,  like  a  Christian  wrestler  victorious  in  the  last  struggle," 
he  received  extreme  unctioD,  and  then  waited  on  death  with  a 


298  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

serene  soul.  Next  day,  he  wrote  the  graceful  and  cheerful 
dedication  of  his  last  romance,  to  the  Duke  of  Lermos,  in 
which  he  says,  he  must  commence  with  the  old  lines  once  so 
famous,  and  which  he  could  wish  were  not  so  pat  to  his  pur- 
pose just  now.  "  Having  placed  my  foot  in  the  stirrup  while 
in  the  pains  of  death,  I  write  this  to  you,  great  lord:" 

"  Puesto  ya  el  pie  en  el  estrivo 
Con  las  ansias  de  la  muerte, 
Gran  Senor,  esta  te  escrivo.''* 

This  is  exceedingly  striking,  and  his  pious  biographer,  Don 
Gregorio,  feels  the  beauty  of  it ;  and  only  those  who  can  see 
no  good  in  a  well-spent  life,  but  think  that  a  man  should  keep 
up  all  his  religion  in  order  to  make  it  blaze  out  unexpectedly 
on  his  death-bed,  will  fail  to  admire  the  characteristic  fine  tem- 
per displayed  by  Cervantes  in  his  last  earthly  moments.  He 
could  look  back  on  years  of  honorable  toil  and  sufferings, 
which  the  w7orld  had  not  recompensed,  but  which  he  had 
endured  with  patience  and  even  in  a  joyful  spirit — on  writings 
in  which  there  is  "  no  line  which,  dying,  he  could  wish  to  blot;" 
on  a  great  work  left  as  a  treasure  of  delight  to  mankind,  and 
distinguished  for  its  purity  even  in  the  particularly  pure  and 
chaste  literature  for  which  his  country  is  honorably  distin- 
guished above  all  other  countries — that  country  of  which  there 
is  this  singular  thing  to  say,  that  while  it  alone  has  produced 
more  dramas  than  all  other  lettered  nations,  ancient  and  mod- 
ern, put  together,  as  their  dramas  now  exist,  have  accumu- 
lated, it  has  no  Congreve,  nor  Vanburgh,  nor  Cibber,  no  single 
drama  in  which  there  is  anything  to  call  up  a  blush  on  the 
cheek  of  modesty. 

*  "  Yida  de  Miguel  de  Cervantes,"  p.  169. 


SIR   KENELM    DIGrBY. 


Sir  Kenelm  Digby  and  his  wife,  Venetia  Stanley,  were  a 
husband  and  spouse  in  every  way  remarkable,  both  being 
endowed  with  personal  gifts  and  graces  which  attracted  the 
admiration  of  their  contemporaries.  Mrs.  Jameson  describes 
the  portrait  of  Sir  Kenelm  at  Althorpe,  and  seems  to  have 
been  disappointed  at  not  finding  him  an  Adonis.  She  mistook 
the  character  of  his  appearance.  Everything  about  the  knight 
was  romantic,  and  his  figure  was  that  of  a  giant.  I  am  sur- 
prised that  the  description  of  his  person  and  manners  given  by 
Wood  appears  not  to  have  met  the  eye  of  Mrs.  Jameson,  for 
it  is  not  to  be  forgotten.  "  His  person,"  says  Wood,  "  was 
handsome  and  gigantic,  and  nothing  was  wanting  to  make  him 
a  complete  cavalier.  He  had  so  graceful  elocution  and  noble 
address,  that  if  he  had  been  dropt  out  of  the  clouds  in  any 
part  of  the  world,  he  would  have  made  himself  respect."* 

Mrs.  Jameson,  in  her  account  of  Althorpe,  has  well 
described  "  the  beautiful  but  appalling  picture  of  Venetia 
Digby,  painted  by  Vandyk  after  she  was  dead.  She  was 
found  one  morning  sitting  up  in  her  bed,  leaning  her  head  on 
her  hand,  and  lifeless  ;  and  thus  she  is  painted.     Notwithstand- 

*  Wood,  "  Athenac  Oxonienses,"  vol,  11,  p.  354. 

(299) 


300  CLASSIC  AND   HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

ing  the  ease  and  grace  of  the  attitude  and  the  delicacy  of  the 
features,  there  is  no  mistaking  this  for  slumber  ;  a  heavier  hand 
has  pressed  upon  those  eyelids,  which  will  never  more  open  to 
the  light;  there  is  a  leaden  lifelessness  about  them,  too  shock- 
ingly true  and  real  : 

u  *  It  thrills  us  with  mortality, 
And  curdles  to  the  gazer's  heart.' 

"The  picture  at  Windsor,"  Mrs.  Jameson  continues,  "is 
the  most  perfectly  beautiful,  and  impressive  female  portrait  I 
ever  saw.  How  have  I  longed,  when  gazing  at  it,  to  conjure 
her  out  of  her  frame,  and  bid  her  reveal  the  secret  of  her  mys- 
terious life  and  death." 

Horace  Walpole  notices  a  portrait  of  Lady  Digby  by  Van- 
dyk,  in  which  "she  is  represented  as  treading  on  Envy  and 
Malice,  and  is  unhurt  by  a  serpent  that  twines  round  her  arm." 
Walpole  had  aiso  in  his  possession  portraits  of  Lady  Digby 
by  Isaac  and  Peter  Oliver. 

"  Nearly  opposite  to  the  dead  Venetia,"  says  Mrs.  Jameson, 
"  in  strange  contrast,  hangs  her  husband,  who  loved  her  to  mad- 
ness, or  was  mad  before  he  married  her,  in  the  very  prime  of 
life  and  youth.  This  picture,  by  Cornelius  Jansen,  is  as  fine 
as  anything  of  Vandyk's.  The  character  expresses  more  of 
intellectual  power  and  physical  strength,  than  of  that  elegance 
of  face  and  form  we  should  have  looked  for  in  such  a  fanciful 
being  as  Sir  Kenelm  Digby.  He  looks  more  like  one  of  the 
Athletae  than  a  poet,  a  metaphysician  and  a  squire  of  dames."* 

As  a  good  specimen  of  the  ingenious  art  by  which  a  person 
conscious  of  some  perfections  in  himself,  may  direct  attention 
to  them  by  praising  the  same  graces  in  another,  let  the  reader 
compare  the  description  of  Sir  Kenelm,  which  I  have  given 
from  Wood,   with  the  compliments  which  Sir  Kenelm  passes 

*  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  Visits  and  Sketches,"  vol   n,  p.  243. 


SIR  KENELM  DIGBY.  301 

on  the  Earl  of  Dorset  in  his  "  Observations  on  the  Religio 
Medici  "  of  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  which  are  inscribed  to  that 
nobleman.  In  the  course  of  an  argument  about  personal  iden- 
tity, Sir  Kenelm  says,  "  Give  me  leave  to  ask  your  Lordship 
if  you  now  see  the  cannons,  the  ensignes,  the  amies  and  other 
martial  preparations  at  Oxford  with  the  same  eyes  wherewith 
many  years  agone  you  looked  upon  Porphyrie's  and  Aris- 
totle's peeces  there  ?  I  doubt  not  but  you  will  answer  me — 
Assuredly  with  the  very  same.  Is  that  ?wble  and  graceful  per- 
son of  yours,  that  begetteth  both  delight  and  reverence  in  every 
one  that  looketh  upon  it  ?  Is  that  body  of  yours  that  noiv  is 
groune  to  such  comely  and  full  dimensions,  as  nature  can  give 
her  none  more  advantageous,  the  same  person,  the  same  body 
which  your  virtuous  and  excellent  mother  bore  nine  months  in 
her  chaste  and  honored  wombe,  and  that  your  nurse  gave  suck 
unto?     Most  certainly  it  is  the  same."* 

I  have  noticed  elsewhere  that  Sir  Kenelm,  whose  head  was 
filled  with  every  kind  of  nonsense,  is  said  to  have  put  his  wife 
on  a  diet  of  capons,  which  had  been  fed  upon  vipers,  believing 
that  this  was  a  means  of  preserving  beauty  to  extreme  old  age. 
I  think  Sir  Kenelm  is  better  characterised  in  the  mere  allu- 
sion to  his  turn  of  mind  made  by  Mrs.  Jameson  in  her  usual 
graceful  and  significant  manner,  than  he  is  in  the  strange 
eulogium  passed  by  Southey  on  the  eccentric  knight,  "  of 
whose  conversion,"  he  says,  "  were  men  to  be  estimated  accord- 
ing to  their  talents  and  accomplishments,  the  Romish  Church 
might  be  more  proud  than  of  any  other  in  this  country  of 
which  it  may  ever  have  had  to  boast."f  We  may  give  up  the 
case  of  Gibbon's  temporary  conversion  to  Romanism,  though 
in  truth  it  gives  a  color  to  every  page  in  which  the  great 
historian  discusses  any   matter  of  controversy   between  the 

*  "  Observations  upon  the  Religio  Medici,"  occasionally  written  by 
Sir  Kenelm  Digby,  Knight,  p.  49.  Lond.  1359. 

t  Southey's  "  Essays,"  vol.  n,  p.  861.     Lond   1832. 


302  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

Church  of  Rome  and  the  churches  of  the  Reformation ;  it 
being  the  fact  that  a  man  may  be  a  zealous  Romanist  or  a 
zealous  Protestant  as  far  as  he  is  called  on  to  speak  on  the 
question  between  the  two  creeds,  without  being  a  Christian  at 
all  But  should  the  instance  of  Gibbon  be  given  up,  surely  Mr. 
Southey  must  have  forgotten  the  conversion  of  Dryden  in  the 
maturity  of  his  intellect  to  the  Church  of  Rome ;  and  there  is 
no  good  evidence  to  lead  us  to  doubt  the  sincerity  of  that  con- 
version. The  seduction  of  such  a  man  as  Dryden  may  be  fairly 
set  off  as  a  parallel  to  the  conversion  on  the  continent  in  our 
days  of  the  accomplished  Friedrich  Schlegel. 


JOHN    SOBTESKI 


John  III.  of  Poland,  better  known  as  John  Sobieski,  the 
deliverer  of  Christendom  from  the  Mussulmans,  is  one  of  the 
most  romantic  characters  in  history.  His  exploits,  if  they  had 
taken  place  in  the  seventh  and  not  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
would  have  been  read  with  disbelief  by  the  present  generation. 
In  his  own  day  he  was  called  "  The  Wizard  King." 

In  the  year  1677  the  famous  Dr.  South  accompanied  his 
pupil,  the  son  of  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  on  an  embassy  to  Po- 
land, to  congratulate  Sobieski  on  his  election  to  the  throne, 
which  had  taken  place  two  years  before.  This  was  six  years 
before  Sobieski  compelled  the  Turks  to  raise  the  siege  of 
Vienna,  the  exploit  with  which  his  renown  is  now  immortally 
associated,  but  already  the  King  of- Poland  was  looked  on  as 
the  noblest  soldier  in  Europe.  After  having  been,  like  Csosar, 
regarded  as  a  fashionable  and  dissipated  youngman,  his  military 
genius  had  broken  out  in  all  its  refulgence,  and  he  had  gained 
those  great  victories  which  are  celebrated  under  the  harsh  look- 
ing Slavonic  names  of  Slobodisza,  Podhaice,  Kalusg,  and  Cho- 
cim,  and  been  declared  by  his  country  to  have  ten  times  saved 
the  state  by  his  wisdom  and  valor. 

Dr.  South  has  left  us  a  description  of  the  person  of  Sobieski, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  famous  scholar  Dr.  Edward  Po- 

(SO'A) 


304  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

cocke.  "  As  for  what  relates  to  his  majesty's  person,"  says 
South,  "  he  is  a  tall  and  corpulent  prince,  large-faced  and  full 
eyes,  and  goes  always  in  the  same  dress  with  his  subjects,  with 
his  hair  cut  round  his  ears  like  a  monk,  and  wears  a  fur  cap, 
but  extraordinary  rich  with  diamonds  and  jewels,  large  whis- 
kers, and  no  neckcloth.  A  long  robe  hangs  down  to  his  heels  in 
the  fashion  of  a  coat,  and  a  waistcoat  under  that  of  the 
same  length,  tied  close  about  the  waist  with  a  girdle.  He 
never  wears  any  gloves,  and  this  long  coat  is  of  strong  scarlet 
cloth,  lined  in  the  winter  with  rich  fur,  but  in  the  summer  only 
with  silk.  Instead  of  shoes,  he  always  wears  both  at  home 
and  abroad  Turkey  leather  boots,  with  very  thin  soles  and  hoi- 
low  deep  heels,  made  of  a  blade  of  silver  bent  hoop-ways  into 
the  form  of  a  half-moon.  He  carries  always  a  large  scimitar 
by  his  side,  the  sheath  equally  flat  and  broad  from  the  handle 
to  the  bottom,  and  curiously  set  with  diamonds." 

The  large  full  face  of  Sobieski  is  well  shown  in  a  portrait  of 
him  engraved  in  the  "  Mercure  Hollandais,"  for  May,  1674.* 
The  king  is  represented  without  a  neckcloth,  and  with  a  fur 
tippet  on  his  shoulders. 

The  large  person  of  Sobieski,  like  the  gigantic  figure  of  the 
ancient  Mithridates,  was  the  habitation  of  a  mind  of  vast  capa- 
city. Besides  his  military  acquirements,  Sobieski  was  skilled 
both  in  science  and  literature. 

"  This  prince,"  continues  South,  "  is  a  very  well-spoken 
prince,  very  easy  of  access,  and  extremely  civil,  having  most 
of  the  qualities  requisite  to  form  a  complete  gentleman.  He 
is  not  only  well  versed  in  all  military  affairs,  but  likewise, 
through  the  means  of  a  French  education,  very  opulently  stored 
with  all  polite  and  scholastic  learning.  Besides  his  own  tongue, 
the  Slavonian,  he  understands- the  Latin,  French,  Italian,  Ger- 

*  "Mercure  Hollandais."  Arast.  1676.  This  volume  contains  also 
spirited  portraits  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  M.  de  Raubenhaupt,  Admiral 
de  Ruyter  Viscount  Turenne,  and  Charles  IV.,  Duke  of  Lorraine. 


JOHN  SOBIKSKI.  305 

man,  and  Turkish  languages;  he  delights  much  in  natural  his- 
tory, and  in  all  the  parts  of  physics ;  he  is  wont  to  reprimand 
the  clergy  for  not  admitting  the  modern  philosophy  such  as 
Le  Grand's  and  Cartesius's  into  the  universities  and  schools, 
and  loves  to  hear  people  discourse  of  these  matters,  and  has  a 
peculiar  talent  to  set  people  about  him  very  artfully  by  the 
ears,  that  by  these  disputes  he  might  be  directed,  as  it  hap- 
pened once  or  twice  during  this  embassy,  where  he  showed  a 
poignancy  of  wit  on  the  subject  of  a  dispute  held  between  the 
Bishop  of  Posen  and  Father  de  la  Motte,  a  Jesuit,  and  his 
majesty's  confessor,  that  gave  me  an  extraordinary  opinion  of 
his  parts." 

The  hard  life  led  by  Sobieski  in  his  earlier  days — when  his 
relaxations  from  war  consisted  in  following  the  chase — had  the 
effect  of  hastening  on  decay  and  old  age.  He  was  but  fifty- 
four  years  of  age,  a  period  at'  which  the  mental  and  bodily 
constitution  of  a  great  general  might  be  thought  to  be  at  its 
best,  when  by  the  terror  of  his  name  as  much  as  of  his  arms, 
he  drove  the  Turks  from  the  borders  of  Christendom,  and  at 
that  time  he  is  described  as  broken  down  and  infirm,  and  with 
difficulty  able  to  mount  his  horse. 

Long  before  his  death,  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age,  he 
was  feeble  and  sickly  in  body  and  mind,  and  in  allusion  to  his 
infirmities  and  his  notorious  subjection  to  his  wife,  he  was  cari- 
catured in  some  prints  at  the  time  as  an  old  man  suckled  in  a 
woman's  lap.  In  his  last  illness,  immense  quantities  of  mercury 
were  administered  to  him  by  a  Jewish  physician.  His  death, 
however,  followed  a  stroke  of  apoplexy,  by  which  he  was 
attacked  on  the  27th  of  June,  1696.  When  Charles  XII. 
visited  his  tomb,  he  burst  into  tears,  and  said,  "  So  great  a 
king  as  this  ought  to  have  never  died."* 

*  Solignac,  "Histoire  ginerale  de  Pologne, '  Contin.  torn,  iv,  p.  94. 
Ams.  1780. 


306  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

Sobieski,  all  his  life  long  from  his  marriage,  was  under  the 
most  submissive  subjection  to  his  wife,  Marie  Casimire  do  la 
Grange  d'Arquien.  She  was  the  daughter  of  the  Marquis  de 
la  Grange  d'Arquien,  had  been  married  to  the  Prince  Zamo- 
isky,  and  was  one  of  the  maids  of  honor  to  the  queen  of  King 
Casimir  when  Sobieski  espoused  her.  During  all  his  wars,  he 
never  ceased  communicating  everything  that  happened  to  his 
11  beloved  Mariette,  only  joy  of  my  soul."  He  writes  to  her 
about  his  rheumatism  and  the  pains  in  his  back ;  he  sends  her 
the  stirrup  of  the  vizier,  bestudded  with  gems,  which  had  been 
found  on  the  field  at  Vienna  ;  and  describes  to  her  the  magni- 
ficent furniture  seized  in  the  captured  camp  of  the  Mussul- 
mans.* 

Marie  de  la  Grange  is  described  as  a  beauty  and  a  wit.  In 
his  fate  in  wedlock,  Sobieski  has  been  compared  with  the  he- 
roic Belisarius  ;  but  the  comparison  with  the  profligate  Anto- 
nina  does  injustice  to  Mariette.  His  slavish  subjection  to  his 
wife,  indeed,  brought  ridicule  on  his  illustrious  name ;  but  I 
have  nowhere  learned  that  there  was  any  crime  in  the  Queen 
of  Poland. 

*  I  have  taken  these  particulars  about  Sobieski's  letters  from  some 
source  to  which  I  have  mislaid  the  reference. 


ANNE     OF     AUSTRIA 


This  queen  deserves  attention,  were  it  onlyv  that  the  true 
politeness  and  graceful  manners  of  her  son,  Louis  XIV.  of 
France,  are  said  to  have,  in  a  great  measure,  been  imparted  to 
him  or  cultivated  in  him  by  her ;  while  it  is  added  that,  in 
their  utmost  perfection  in  the  great  monarch,  they  were  but  a 
faint  and  feeble  souvenir  of  the  fascination  which  dwelt  in  his 
mother. 

Anne,  the  wife  of  Louis  XIII.,  was,  as  we  learn  from  the 
description  of  her  given  by  Madame  de  Motteville,  her  maid 
of  honor,  collated  with  other  accounts,  tall  in  stature,  with  an 
air  of  mingled  majesty  and  sweetness  in  her  deportment.  Her 
hair  was  light  brown,  slightly  curled,  and  fell  in  profusion  over 
her  shoulders.  After  the  fashion  of  the  times,  she  wore  pow- 
der. The  complexion  of  her  face  was  not  delicate,  and  she 
painted  grossly.  Her  skin  otherwise  was  soft  and  very  fair. 
Her  nose  was  rather  large  and  unfeminine;  her  eyes  were 
pleasing,  though  there  was  observable  in  them  a  tinge  of  green 
— her  forehead  and  the  contour  of  her  face  were  excellent ;  her 
mouth  was  small,  but  well  made ;  her  lips  were  rosy,  and  her 
smile  exceedingly  fascinating.  Her  neck  and  bosom  were 
beautifully  formed.  Her  arms  and  her  hands,  which  were 
finely  shaped,  were  widely  celebrated  for  their  exquisite  pro- 

(307) 


308  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

portions.     On  her  hands,  one  of  Menage's  friends  made  the 
following  lines : 

"  II  pendoit  au  bout  de  ses  manches, 

Une  pair  de  mains  si  blanches, 

Que  je  voudrois  en  verite 

En  avoir  ete  soufflete." 

Anne  was  one  of  the  numerous  gluttons  of  royal  rank.  As 
a  general  rule,  women  are  neither  epicures  nor  gluttons  as 
compared  writh  men ;  and  spareness  in  eating,  with  something 
like  an  indifference  to  the  quality  of  what  is  eaten,  are  recom- 
mendations of  a  woman  to  the  other  sex.  Yet  ./Elian  has  a 
chapter  devoted  to  the  voracity  of  Aglais,  the  daughter  of 
Megacles,  who  consumed  at  one  meal  twelve  pounds  of  flesh 
(pounds  of  twelve  ounces,  it  is  understood,)  and  four  chcenixes 
of  bread,  and  drank  a  measure  of  wine  (about  a  gallon.)  The 
chcenix  was  usually  baked  into  four  small  loaves.  This  female 
glutton,  it  is  mentioned,  played  on  the  pipe,  and  wore  false 
hair,  with  a  crest  on  the  crown  of  her  head.* 

A  female  writer  of  royal  blood,  who  knew  Anne,  and  has 
made  some  terrible  revelations  of  the  grossness  of  manners 
which  prevail  at  courts,  tells  us  that  the  queen  eat  in  a  manner 
perfectly  frightful — d'une  maniere  toute  effrayante — four  times 
a  day.  To  this  voracity,  some  thought  that  the  terrible  dis- 
ease of  which  she  died  was  owing. f 

In  her  latter  years,  Anne,  who  had  been  scrupulously  and 
sensitively  delicate  about  the  care  of  her  person  to  make  her- 
self agreeable  to  all  around  her,  so  that  no  linen  or  cambric 
was  fine  enough  for  her,  suffered  dreadfully  from  sores,  which 
covered  her  whole  body.  Under  this  affliction — a  terrible  one 
to  a  beauty — her  patience  was  heroic,  and  she  struggled  to  the 

*  JElian,  lib.  i,  c.  26. 

f  "Memoires  sur  la  Cour  de  Louis  XIV.  et  de  la  Regenee,  Extraits  de 
la  Correspondancc  Allemande  de  Madame  Elizabeth  Charlotte,  I  uchesse 
d  Orleans,  p.  326.     Paris,  1823. 


ANNE   OF    AUSTRIA.  309 

lust  to  make  her  person  as  little  offensive  to  those  about  her  as 
possible  by  usingperfumes — u  the  strongest  perfumes  of  Spain," 
says  the  Duchess  of  Orleans.  When  she  observed  that  her 
beautiful  hands  began  to  swell,  she  said :  "  It  is  time  for  me  to 
depart, " 

The  moral  character  of  this  queen  appears,  on  the  whole,  to 
have  been  good  ;  but  she  had  the  weakness  to  encourage,  or 
at  least  not  to  discourage,  declarations  of  passionate  love,  and 
of  admiration  of  her  beauty,  which  ill-natured  observers  have 
turned  to  account  against  her  fair  fame.  The  Duchess  of 
Orleans,  her  daughter-in-law,  assures  us  that  she  was  secretly 
married  to  the  Cardinal  Mazarin ;  and  as  that  princess,  of  all 
scandalous  chroniclers,  appears  to  have  had  no  special  ill  will 
to  Anne,  it  is  difficult  to  refuse  her  testimony  on  this  point. 
The  cardinal  was  not  a  priest,  the  duchess  tells  us,  and  there 
was  nothing  to  hinder  him  from  contracting  a  marriage.  • 

It  is  to  be  observed  that,  if  the  queen  had  been  a  Messalina, 
it  would  not  have  degraded  her  in  the  eyes  of  the  duchess ; 
but  to  have  been  honorably  married  to  a  person  below  her 
royal  rank  was  a  guilt  not  to  be  effaced. 

It  is  confirmatory  of  the  existence  of  the  marriage  that 
Anne,  who,  at  one  time,  showed  every  manifestation  of  love  to 
the  cardinal,  exhibited,  at  a  later  period,  the  most  decided 
enmity — perhaps  the  sole  enmity  of  her  gentle  life.  "  He  tired 
dreadfully  of  the  good  queen,"  says  the  duchess,  "and  treated 
her  harshly,  which  is  the  ordinary  consequence  of  such  mar- 
riages."* 

There  was  a  woman,  Madame  la  Beauvais,  the  confidante 
of  the  queen-regent's  secret  marriage,  who  held  the  situation 
of  first  lady  of  her  bed-chamber ;  Scire  volunt  secreta  domus, 
atque  inde  timeri.  La  Beauvais  was  old  and  frightfully  ugly 
— "  blind  on  one  eye  and  bleared  on  the  other,"  says  the  Due 
de  St.  Simon.  This  woman,  however,  was  experienced  in 
*  "  Mtmoires  de  la  Cour  de  Louis  XIV."  p.  320. 


310  CLASSIC  AND   HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

affairs  of  profligate  love — the  very  picture,  physically  and  mo- 
rally, of  a  malevolent  and  licentious  witch  in  a  fairy  tale.  She 
had  in  her  keeping  the  secret  of  the  queen's  marriage,  and 
could  show  at  any  time,  if  offended  by  neglect,  the  private 
passage  by  which  the  cardinal  every  night  entered  her  royal 
mistress's  bed-room.  Hence  she  ruled  the  good-natured  Anne, 
and  made  her  do  what  she  pleased.  The  great,  and  all  who 
desired  to  be  great,  paid  their  devotions  at  the  shrine  of  this 
ugly  goddess.  La  Beauvais  appeared  at  court  in  the  splendor 
of  a  lady  of  the  highest  rank,  and  was  treated  with  every  dis- 
tinction till  the  hour  of  her  death . 

The  queen's  great  powers  of  eating  descended  to  her  royal 
successors.  The  polite  Louis  XIV.  had  the  appetite  of  an 
ogre;  and  the  communicative  Duchess  of  Orleans,  the  king's 
brother,  was  little  less  distinguished  in  this  faculty,  which 
flows  in  high  blood,  and  lost  nothing  of  its  strength  in  the 
daughter,  and  in  the  Due  de  Berri. 

"  I  have  often  seen  the  king,"  says  this  female  Suetonius, 
lt  sup  four  dishes  of  different  soup,  then  a  whole  pheasant,  and 
next  a  whole  partridge,  after  these  a  great  plate  of  salad,  then 
mutton  with  gravy  and  garlick,  two  large  slices  of  ham,  a  dish 
of  pastry,  and  after  that  fruits  and  confectionary.  Both  the 
king  and  the  deceased  monsieur  (the  duke,  her  husband)  were 
extremely  fond  of  hard-boiled  eggs."* 

The  duchess  adored  Louis,  and  was  his  most  intimate  friend. 
Her  testimony  as  regards  him  cannot  be  set  aside.  The  details 
I  have  here  given  are  disgusting,  but  they  would  not  offend 
such  an  admirer  of  royal  blood  as  the  duchess:  and  what  the 
Bourbons  did  in  the  way  of  eating  down  to  Louis  XVI.,  who 
ate  with  great  vigor  up  till  the  hour  that  he  laid  his  innocent 
head  on  the  block,  there  is  abundant  historical  evidence  to 
prove  to  be  entirely  after  the  fashion  of  princes  and  princesses, 
and  of  the  highest  of  the  male  and  female  aristocracy,  and  a 
*  "Memoires  dela  Cour  de  Louis  XIV."  p.  51. 


ANNE   OF   AUSTRIA.  311 

thing    only   regarded  as  vulgar  in   humble   and   undignified 
circies. 

Louis's  queen — the  good,  affectionate,  amorous,  little,  fair 
and  fat  Maria  Teresa,  the  Infanta  of  Spain — did  not  sit  down 
to  any  of  these  terrible  devourings,  but  kept  eating  and  munch- 
ing continually  at  nice  small  bits,  as  if  she  had  been,  says  the 
Duchess  of  Orleans,  ua  little  canary."* 
*  "  Memoires, '  p.  84. 


NINON    DE    L'ENCLOS 


The  famous  Ninon  de  l'Enclos,  the  object  of  the  admiration 
of  Paris  for  the  greater  part  of  a  century,  is  known  upon  un- 
questionable evidence  to  have  been  one  of  those  rare  women 
who  have  preserved  their  beauty  from  childhood  to  an  extreme- 
ly lengthened  period  of  life.  At  every  stage  of  her  girlhood, 
her  maturity,  and  her  old  age,  up  till  her  eightieth  birthday, 
she  made  fresh  conquests.  She  is  farther  remembered  as  be- 
ing the  only  woman,  except  perhaps  Madame  Duchatelet,  who 
in  modern  times  has  successfully  filled  in  society  the  place 
which  was  held  by  the  Aspasias  and  other  Hetaires  of  ancient 
Athens,  educated  and  accomplished  women,  all  of  them  impor- 
tations from  Ionia,  who,  while  allowed  to  have  many  virtues, 
and  all  kinds  of  modern  graces,  did  not  even  profess  that  vir- 
tue, the  want  of  which  in  a  different  state  of  society,  entails 
along  with  it  in  public  estimation,  and  often  in  reality,  a  want 
of  almost  every  other. 

We  read,  with  amazement  at  the  state  of  ancient  manners, 
that  in  Greece,  the  most  refined  people  of  antiquity,  at  the  pe- 
liod  of  their  greatest  refinement  denied  education  to  those  who 
were  to  be  their  wives  and  the  mothers  of  their  children,  and 
bestowed  instruction  in  every  kind  of  learning  on  those  wo- 
inen  who  were  deliberately  trained  to  indulgence  in  sensual 

(312) 


NINON  DE  L'ENCLOS.  313 

pleasure.  We  read  with  more  amazement  how  generally  these 
women,  thus  educated,  were  possessed  not  merely  of  those  vir- 
tues which  are  not  incompatible  with  the  absence  of  chastity, 
but  of  others,  which  a  woman  who  throws  away  her  honor  is 
generally  believed,  as  a  matter  of  course,  to  fling  along  with  it. 
Aspasia  was  the  counsellor  of  Pericles,  if  not  also  his  speech- 
maker;  Socrates  listened  with  admiration  to  her  lessons  in 
wisdom,  and  those  men  who  did  not  wish  their  wives  and 
daughters  to  be  entirely  ignorant,  brought  them  to  the  house 
of  Aspasia  to  be  instructed.  Something  of  the  same  kind  has 
not  been  unknown  in  the  East;*  and  in  one  of  the  best  of  the 
ancient  Indian  dramas,  the  courtesan  of  the  piece  is  painted 
with  every  amiable  virtue,  and  with  the  most  charming  meek- 
ness and  modesty  to  recommend  her,  and  is  made  the  instru- 
ment of  bringing  about  that  moral  and  happy  denouement 
which  the  laws  of  Hindu  tragedy  inexorably  demand. 

The  history  of  Ninon  is  well  known,  and  I  have  nothing  far- 
ther to  do  with  it,  than  to  remark  that  all  the  most  marvellous 
parts  of  it  appear  to  be  perfectly  true.  She  was  the  child  of  a 
pious  mother  and  of  a  licentious  father.  From  the  mother  she 
received  the  best  of  Christian  instruction,  while  her  father, 
who  was  vicious  from  principle,  diligently  taught  her  to  follow 
his  example.  Ninon  preferred  her  father's  instruction.  Her 
mother  died  when  the  daughter  was  only  fourteen  years  of 
age,  and  her  father  followed  her  to  the  grave  within  a  year 
after.  If  that  be  a  good  child  which  obeys  the  dying  injunc- 
tions of  a  parent,  Ninon  did  her  duty  in  becoming  a  voluptua- 
ry j — she  sinned  in  obedience  to  the  fifth  commandment.  Her 
father  regretted  that  his  career  of  licentious  indulgence  had 
been  cut  short,  and  with  his  dying  breath  beseeched  his  daugh- 
ter to  make  the  best  use  of  her  years,  and  to  be  quite  unscru- 
pulous about  the  number,  but  at  the  same  time  select  and  deli- 
cate in  the  choice,  of  her  pleasures. 

*  The  "  Vesay"  of  the  Hindus  is  the  Greek  'eraipij. 
14 


314  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

Never  did  child  in  this  world  more  faithfully  obey  the  last 
will  of  a  dear  parent.  And  plenty  of  time  was  afforded  her 
to  manifest  her  unswerving  obedience.  Her  father  was  no 
sooner  dead,  than  she  foreswore  marriage  and  devoted  herself 
to  literature  and  love.  One  amour  succeeded  another  with  her, 
from  her  first  avowed  lover,  the  Count  de  Coligni,  whose  mis- 
tress she  became  at  eighteen,  to  the  Abbe  Gedouin,  whom  she 
chose  as  her  favorite  when  she  was  eighty. 

The  advice  of  Ninon's  father  recalls  us  to  the  palmy  days  of 
the  Greek  and  .Roman  heathenism,  when  the  consideration  of 
the  near  approach  and  certainty  of  death  was  urged,  as  it  is 
urged  in  the  loveliest  and  most  pathetic  of  the  odes  of  Catullus 
(vivamus,  mea  Lesbia,  et  ame?nus,)  as  the  strongest  motive  to 
omit  no  opportunity  of  enjoying  this  world's  pleasures.  Un- 
der the  better  influence  of  the  religion  which  points  to  the 
world  hereafter  as  the  only  abode  of  true  bliss  the  same  con- 
sideration is  pressed  upon  us  as  a  motive  to  self-mortification, 
and  the  abhorrence  of  sensual  indulgences. 

All  the  portraits  and  descriptions  of  Ninon  present  us  with 
a  woman  of  that  face  and  figure  which  promise  enduring 
beauty.  She  wTas  above  the  middle  height — stout  and  well- 
proportioned  ;  the  face  is  round  rather  than  oval ;  the  whole 
features  are  vigorous,  decided  and  intellectual.  The  eye  is 
beautifully  large,  open  and  soft.  M  Decency  and  passion," 
says  one  of  her  biographers,  "  disputed  in  those  eyes  for  em- 
pire."* The  nose  is  particularly  fine,  and  the  mouth,  where 
we  look  for  the  indication  of  taste  and  the  love  of  pleasure,  is 
exquisitely  formed.  The  hair  is  long  and  beautifully  curling, 
and  tastefully  arranged  and  adorned  with  pearls.  The  bust 
is  full  and  handsome ;  the  fall  of  the  shoulders  extremely  ele- 
gant ;  her  complexion  was  fresh  and  brilliant. 

Lady  Lytton  Bulwer  has  introduced  a  description  of  Ninon 
into  her  novel,  "  The  School  for  Husbands."     As  this  pic- 

*  Vie  de  Mademoiselle  de  l'Enclos,  p.  5,  Lettres,  &c.     Lond.  1782. 


NINON  DE  L'ENCLOS.  315 

ture  has  evidently  been  accurately  and  laboriously  worked  up 
from  portraits  and  contemporary  testimony,  I  give  it  entire. 

u  Rupert  now  directed  his  attention  to  the  boxes  on  either 
side  of  him,  which  were  rapidly  filling :  the  stage  box  more 
especially,  on  his  right  hand,  excited  his  curiosity,  from  seeing 
a  young  lady,  apparently  about  eighteen  or  twenty,  of  great 
personal  attractions,  enter  it,  surrounded  by  a  perfect  swarm 
of  men ;  one  removing  her  hood,  another  carrying  her  fan,  a 
third  her  bouquet,  while  a  fourth  arranged  her  chair,  and  a 
fifth  stooped  down  to  place  a  footstool  for  her  :  the  whole 
house,  including  les  somites  aristocratiques,  evinced  the  greatest 
empressement  to  bow  to  this  lady,  who  returned  their  greetings 
with  a  circular  salutation,  which  included  them  all,  in  the  most 
graceful  manner,  and  with  the  least  possible  trouble  to  her- 
self, as  she  sank  into  a  chair,  and  leant  back  to  speak  to  one 
of  her  satellites,  who  was  in  waiting  at  the  back  of  it.  She 
was  very  little  above  the  middle  height,  of  beautifully  rounded 
proportions,  and  plump,  without  being  fat ;  her  skin  was  of  a 
dazzling  and  satiny  whiteness,  her  bust,  hands  and  arms  being 
most  symmetrical ;  her  face  was  more  round  than  oval,  her 
forehead  was  high  aad  intellectual,  the  brows  being  low, 
straight,  and  beautifully  pencilled;  her  eyes  were  large  and 
liquid,  and  of  a  dark  hazel;  her  nose  small,  white,  and  exces- 
sively piquant,  having  the  end  descended  a  little  below  the 
delicately  chiselled  nostrils,  which  had  those  little  fossettcs  at 
each  side,  that  a  century  and  a  half  later  Madame  de  Genlis 
was  so  vain  of  possessing.  Her  cheeks  were  suffused  with 
that  vivid,  yet  delicate  and  peach-like  bloom,  so  rare  among 
her  countrywomen  ;  her  mouth  was  a  little  large,  but  the  lips 
were  so  deep  and  bright  a  red,  and  formed  such  a  perfect  Cu- 
pid's bow,  from  the  short  upper  lip  to  the  dimpled  chin,  and 
the  teeth  within  it  were  so  dazzlingly  white,  that  envy  itself 
could  find  nothing  to  criticise.  Her  magnificent  hair  (which 
was  a  dark  brown,  with  that  Georgione  or  horse  chestnut-red 


316  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

varnished  tinge  through  it,  as  if  sunbeams  had  got  entangled 
amongst  its  meshes)  she  wore,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the 
time,  wreathed  in  plaits  round  the  back  of  her  head,  and  di- 
vided very  low  on  the  forehead,  with  a  profusion  of  long  ten- 
dril-like ringlets  on  either  side,  which  were  tied  with  knots  of 
blue  ribbon,  over  which,  so  as  to  show  the  ribbon  through, 
were  large  bows  of  set  pearls,  with  streamers  and  tassels  of 
fine  Oriental,  pear-shaped,  strung  pearls,  and  the  shoulders 
and  front  part  of  her  Berthe  were  also  fastened  with  the  same, 
likewise  the  centre  of  her  bodice,  down  to  the  point  of  her 
stomacher,  where  hung  one  large  pearl,  nearly  the  size  of  a 
pigeon's  egg;  her  dress  was  composed  of  white  moire,  with  a 
broad  sky-blue  velvet  stripe  upon  it,  while  the  Berthe  was  en- 
tirely of  blue  velvet,  with  a  Resille  or  network  of  pearls  over 
it,  which  formed  no  contrast  to  her  snowy  skin.  '  What  a 
beautiful  girl !'  exclaimed  Rupert.  '  Who  is  she  ?'  *  You  are 
partly  right,  and  partly  wrong :  beautiful  she  most  unques- 
tionably is,  but  for  her  girlhood  !  if  you  want  to  find  that,  you 
must  go  back  to  the  time  when  our  friend  Moliere  accompa- 
nied his  late  Majesty,  Louis  Treize,  to  Narbonne,  in  1641,  and 
even  then  she  was  not  over  girlish,  being  at  that  time  five-and- 
twenty,  as  last  Tuesday  she  completed  her  forty-sixth  year.' 
1  Impossible,'  said  Rupert.  '  Nothing  is  impossible  to  Ninon 
de  l'Enclos,  except,  perhaps,  ceasing  to  he  Ninon,'  rejoined 
Rohault. 

Ninon,  we  are  told,  and  need  not  doubt  it,  had  a  soft  and 
interesting  voice  ;  she  sung  with  more  taste  than  brilliancy, 
and  danced  admirably.  She  played  well  on  the  lute,  in  which 
she  had  been  instructed  by  her  father. 

From  early  life  she  cultivated  her  mind  by  reading.  When 
a  mere  child,  we  are  told  that  her  favorite  authors  were  Mon- 
taigne and  Charron.  Montaigne  is  certainly  not  to  be  perused 
without  pleasure  at  any  age  ;  but  notwithstanding  the  great 
reputation  of  Charron,  we  fear  that  most  of  his  readers,  if  they 


NINON  DE  L'ENCLOS.  317 

dared  to  speak  the  truth,  would  confess  that  they  find  his  work 
on  "  wisdom"  very  tedious.  When  taken  to  church  by  her 
mother,  Ninon  used  to  pass  the  time  there  in  reading  romances, 
when  she  appeared  to  be  looking  on  her  prayer  book. 

There  is  nobody  perfect,  and  the  biographer  of  Ninon  whom 
we  have  already  quoted,  admits  that  there  was  some  slight 
defects  which  obscured  her  numerous  good  qualities.  Firstly, 
he  tells  us  that  she  was  naturally  jealous  of  the  merit  of  other 
women;  secondly,  she  could  not  suffer  a  man  who  had  large 
hands  and  a  big  belly  (which  was  illiberal ;)  and  lastly,  though 
she  played  perfectly  well  on  the  lute,  she  required  too  much 
pressing  to  begin.  Upon  the  whole,  this  was  a  moderate  share 
of  the  frailties  of  humanity.  The  first-mentioned  fault  is  to  be 
found  in  the  very  best  of  women,  and  has  by  excellent  judges 
been  reckoned  a  virtue.  "  To  say  the  truth,"  says  Dean 
Swift,  in  his  "  Letter  to  a  Young  Lady,"  u  I  never  yet  knew 
a  tolerable  woman  to  be  fond  of  her  own  sex."  The  Dean 
speaks  strongly ;  but  in  fact,  a  woman  who  delights,  or  affects 
to  delight  in  the  society  of  her  own  sex  is  far  from  being  amia- 
ble in  the  eyes  of  the  more  judicious  of  the  other. 

It  is  strange  to  find  admirers  of  Ninon,  like  St.  Evremonde 
and  others,  writing  to  her  and  complimenting  her  with  the 
classic  name  of  Leontium — the  name  of  that  woman  on  whom 
Cicero,  Diogenes  Laertius,  and  all  who  have  spoken  of  her, 
have  bestowed  the  most  opprobrious  designations  that  can  be 
inflicted  on  even  a  courtesan.  The  title  was  first  bestowed  in 
the  most  eulogistic  manner  on  Ninon,  by  the  Abbe  Chauteau- 
neuf,  in  his  "  Dialogue  sur  la  Musique  des  Anciens."  The 
name  of  Leontium  is  greater  in  literature  and  philosophy  than 
that  of  Ninon ;  but  her  extreme  licentiousness  has  thrown  scan- 
dal on  the  whole  school  of  Epicurus  in  which  she  studied. 


MADEMOISELLE  DE  MONTPENSIER. 


There  have  been  some  women,  who  have  taken  care  not  to 
let  the  world  to  come  after  them  lament  its  ignorance  of  their 
personal  appearance  and  their  characteristic  habits,  as  far  as 
these  were  fairly  known  to  themselves. 

Amongst  these  is  Henrietta  de  Bourbon,  daughter  of  Gas- 
ton, Duke  of  Orleans,  the  brother  of  Louis  XIII. ,  who  has  left 
copious  memories  of  her  times.  These  memories  are  the  most 
decidedly  personal  memoirs  that  have  ever  been  given  to  the 
world.  They  are  wholly  about  Mademoiselle  de  Montpensier 
herself;  nobody  else,  and  nothing  else  being  alluded  to  except 
in  so  far  as  their  connection  with  herself  obliged  her  to  notice 
them.  In  matters  of  court  introductions  and  entertainments, 
and  in  details  of  the  vulgarities  of  the  great,  she  is  perfectly 
silly ;  but  in  such  rubbish,  and  in  the  explanations  of  the  gene- 
alogies of  the  illustrious  obscure,  she  has  since  been  quite  out- 
done by  the  Baroness  d'Oberkirch. 

Mademoiselle — this  is  her  designation  in  the  French  histo- 
ries and  memoirs  of  the  time — tells  us  that  her  ligure  was  good 
and  graceful,  her  aspect  open,  her  bosom  rather  handsome, 
while  her  hands  and  arms  were  good  but  not  fine.  "  My  legs," 
she  adds,  "  are  straight,  and  my  feet  well-made.  My  hair  is 
of  a  fine  ash-color,  my  face  is  long,  my  nose  large  and   aqui- 


MADEMOISELLE    DE  MONTPENSIER.  319 

line ;"  which,  it  may  be  mentioned,  as  she  has  made  no  reflec- 
tion on  it  herself,  might  be  and  is  said  to  be  royal,  but  is  not 
beautiful.  "  My  mouth  is  neither  large  nor  small,  but  well 
proportioned,  and  my  lips  are  of  a  good  color.  My  teeth, 
though  not  fine,  are  far  from  being  bad ;  my  eyes  are  light 
blue,  clear  and  sparkling." 

Upon  one  point  there  is  a  discrepancy  between  different 
parts  of  her  own  evidence.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  her 
teeth  were  very  bad.  While  here  in  one  place  she  tells  us 
that  they  were  far  from  being  bad,  in  another  she  lets  us  know 
that  it  was  characteristic  of  her  royal  race  to  have  bad  teeth. 
"  I  believe,"  she  said  one  day  to  Monsieur  de  Lauzun,  as  she 
relates  the  conversation  herself,  "  that  my  teeth  are  not  beau- 
tiful, but  this  is  a  defect  belonging  to  our  family,  and  ought 
therefore  to  be  less  displeasing  to  you  than  another." 

Her  air,  Mademoiselle  tells  us,  was  stately,  but  not  haughty, 
"line  grande  fille  be  belle  taille,"  was  the  description  of  her 
figure  which  she  one  day  overheard  from  the  mouth  of  a  per- 
son of  taste. 

In  her  girlhood  she  had  small-pox,  but  according  to  her  own 
account  that  cruel  malady  treated  her  gently,  and  did  not 
leave  on  her  face  even  a  redness  behind  it. 

She  does  not  take  much  credit  for  her  taste  in  dressing,  as 
she  lets  us  know  that  whatever  dress  she  assumed  was  sure  to 
become  her  admirably.  "  I  dress,"  she  says  in  one  place, 
"negligently,  but  not  slovenly,  and  whether  in  dishabille  or 
attired  magnificently,  I  always  preserve  an  air  of  distinction. 
Negligence  of  dress  does  not  misbecome  me,  and  when  I  do 
adorn  myself,  1  venture  to  say  that  I  disfigure  the  ornaments 
which  I  put  on  me  !eS3  than  they  embellish  me.1. 

This  is  complimentary  enough,  but  she  is  still  more  decided 
on  her  power  of  charming,  independently  of  intrinsic  orna- 
ments, in  a  description  which  she  gives  of  herself  as  she  shone 
forth  in  full  splendor  at  a  fete  in  the  Palace  Royal.     She  had 


320  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

been  attired  for  the  occasion  under  the  direction  of  her  aunt, 
the  Queen  Dowager,  whose  remarkably. good  taste  is  noticed 
by  all  who  have  spoken  to  her.  If  it  was  Mademoiselle's  usual 
practice  to  be  negligent  in  her  dress,  she  made  up  for  much 
arrear  in  care  by  the  patience  wTith  wThich  she  submitted  to  be 
made  a  block  for  showing  off  court  dresses  and  fashions  upon. 

"  They  were  three  whole  days,"  says  Mademoiselle,  "  in 
arranging  my  finery.  My  dress  was  studded  wTith  diamonds 
and  colored  flowers.  I  wore  all  the  crown  jewels,  and  also 
those  of  the  Queen  of  England  (Henrietta  Maria,)  who  at  that 
time  had  still  some  remaining.  Nothing  more  magnificent 
could  be  seen  than  my  dress  on  this  occasion ;  yet  did  I  find 
many  gentlemen  who  told  me  that  rny  beautiful  figure,  my  good 
looks,  the  fairness  of  my  complexion,  and  the  brightness  of  my 
light  hair  were  more  dazzling  than  all  the  riches  that  shone  on 
my  person."  Mademoiselle  would  find  many  gentlemen  who 
would  tell  her  this,  when  once  it  was*  discovered  that  she 
would  believe  it. 

Mademoiselle's  favorite  amusements  were  dancing,  riding 
on  horseback,  and  joining  in  the  chase. 


THE    DUCHESS    OF    OELEANS. 


The  most  singular  portrait,  personal,  moral,  and  intellectual, 
which  we  have  of  a  woman  of  royal  blood,  and  proud  to  insanity 
of  that  blood,  is  perhaps  that  of  the  Princess  Palatine,  Charlotte 
Elizabeth,  second  wife  of  the  Duke  of  Orleans  (brother  to 
Louis  XIV.,)  and  mother  of  the  more  famous  Kegent,  the 
Duke  of  Orleans.  The  picture  in  every  respect  is  complete 
as  we  find  it  in  the  memoirs  of  her  times,  but  particularly  as  it 
is  portrayed  in  all  its  coarse,  vulgar,  and  disgusting  details  by 
herself,  in  those  of  her  letters  which  have  been  published;  and 
though  decency  has  induced  the  booksellers  to  suppress  much 
of  what  was  in  their  hands,  and  though  hundreds,  if  not  thou- 
sands, of  her  scandalous  letters  are  still,  it  is  believed,  extant 
in  manuscript  in  various  royal  and  noble  houses,  she  has  reveal- 
ed so  much  of  herself  and  others,  that,  considering  what  her 
pictures  are  like,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  desire  more. 

Her  writings  and  descriptions,  addressed  to  various  princes 
and  princesses,  dukes  and  duchesses  throughout  Europe,  and 
as  we  must  suppose,  acknowledged  on  their  part  by  letters  par- 
taking at  least  of  much  of  the  grossness  of  those  which  they 
continued  to  receive,*  are  useful  in  dispelling  that  extremely 

*  The  French  Editor  is  struck  with  horror  at  the  filthiness  of  two  let- 
ters, one  written  by  the  Duchess  and  another  by  the  Electress  of  Hanover, 
14*  (321) 


322  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS- 

ignorant  delusion  that  courts  are  the  seats  of  politeness,  refine- 
ment and  elegance.  The  court  of  Louis  XIV.  was  perhaps  the 
most  refined  court  ever  seen.  Louis  himself  was  unquestion- 
ably a  man  of  genuine  politeness  ;  of  that  true  politeness  which 
is  not  in  the  least  conventional,  and  is  not,  except  in  a  very 
slight  degree,  to  be  acquired  by  education,  but  is  a  natural  gift, 
partaking  of  the  character  of  a  virtue,  as  with  the  world  it 
passes  for  virtue  itself,  and  is  to  be  found  in  whole  nations  and 
races  of  men,  while  it  is  wanting  entirely  in  other  whole 
nations  and  races ;  and  which  is  to  be  met  with  as  frequently 
in  the  humblest  ranks  as  in  the  highest;  though  as  a  rule  it  is 
most  rare  in  the  extremes,  in  the  lowest  and  in  the  most  exalt- 
ed stations  in  society,  amongst  those  who  are  either  below  or 
above  the  necessity  or  temptation  of  cultivating  the  favor  and 
good  opinion  and  love  of  their  fellow  creatures. 
.  In  the  polite  court  of  Louis  XIV.  Charlotte  Elizabeth,  Prin- 
cess Palatine,  and  Duchess  of  Orleans,  with  the  utmost  con- 
ceivable brutality  in  mind,  manners,  and  language,  held  divided 
reign  with  Maintenon,  the  insidiously  polished  Maintenon 
herself. 

I  may,  first  of  all,  take  Madame's  minute  description  of  her 
own  person.  "  Madame"  is  the  title  which  she  bears  in  the 
French  memoirs  of  her  times.  As,  however,  she  is  unreason- 
ably deprecatory  of  herself,  I  must,  in  justice  to  her  memory, 
compare  her  own  sketch  with  the  rather  more  favorable  por- 
traits drawn  of  her  by  others. 

It  may  be  thought  strange,  though  Madame  was  sensible 
that  she  did  not  excel  in   beauty  of  face  and  person,  that 

which  had  been  printed  entire,  without  alteration  or  suppression  of  any- 
thing in  the  German  edition  of  Strasbourg,  1798.  "  L'on  a  pousse  1' 
exactitude  jusqu'  a  imprimer  textuellement  deux  lettres,  une  de  la  Prin- 
cesse  Palatine,  et  1  autre  de  1  Electrice  d  Ilanovre,  toutes  deux  si  orduri- 
eres,  qu'on  les  prendrait  pour  un  assaut.  C  est  un  enigmedont  le  mot 
n  est  pas  connu  " — Memoikes,  Avis  de  l'  Editeur,  p.  7. 


THE  DUCHESS  OP  ORLEANS.  323 

she  should  be  more  severe  on  her  own  ugliness  than  any- 
other  person  who  had  seen  her;  but  this  is  not  inconsistent 
with  such  a  character  as  hers.  It  might  be  also  wondered  at 
that  her  own  pen  should  describe  scenes  in  which  she  herself 
is  represented  as  behaving  herself  like  a  beast,  and  talking  lan- 
guage which  it  would  have  called  up  a  blush  in  the  face  of  the 
poorest  unfortunate  woman  walking  the  streets  of  Paris 
to  have  listened  to. 

It  is  all  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that,  in  Madarne's  belief, 
there  was  just  one  thing,  and  one  thing  alone,  that  gave  dig- 
nity and  nobility  of  character  to  man  or  woman,  and  that  was 
old  blood  royal.  Beauty,  virtue,  intellect,  manners,  were  all 
perfectly  worthless  without  this  ;  with  this,  nothing  else  was 
necessary  for  procuring  the  worship  of  the  world.  This  she 
had  in  the  highest  possible  perfection  ;  for  though  her  father — 
a  poor  German  prince,  the  Elector  Palatine  Charles  Louis — 
was  a  brute,  who,  at  the  royal  table  in  his  savage  palace, 
would  give  her  royal  mother  a  blow  on  the  face  when  she  hap- 
pened to  say  anything  that  did  not  please  him,  Madame  held 
her  family  to  be  far  exalted  above  every  other  royal  house  in 
Europe,  and  believed  that  she  herself  had  shown  a  marvellous 
condescension,  when  she  stooped  to  bestow  all  her  personal 
plainness,  all  her  coarseness,  rudeness  of  manners,  vulgarity, 
and  ignorance,  the  hand  which  she  herself  describes  as  the  ug- 
liest in  the  world,  and  the  heart  which  was  certainly  none  of  the 
purest,  on  a  beautiful  prince,  the  brother  of  the  most  powerful 
monarch  of  the  times. 

"  I  must  be  ugly,"  says  Madame.  "  I  have  no  features  ;  I 
have  small  eyes,  a  short  and  thick  nose,  and  long  and  flat  lips. 
All  this  won't  make  a  physiognomy.  I  have,  besides,  great 
hanging  cheeks,  and  a  large  face,  yet  I  am  very  short  in  per- 
son. My  body  and  my  thighs  are  also  short;  in  one  word,  I 
am  truly  a  little  ugly  creature  {en  petit  laideron.)  If  I  had  not 
a  good  heart  (there  is  reason  to  dispute  her  title  to  a  good 


324  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

heart,)  I  would  not  be  tolerated  anywhere.  In  order  to  ascer- 
tain if  my  eyes  indicate  my  mind,  they  would  require  to  be  ex- 
amined by  a  microscope,  or  with  spectacles,  otherwise  it  would 
be  difficult  to  judge.  Uglier  hands  than  mine  are,  it  would 
probably  be  difficult  to  find  in  the  whole  world.  The  king  has 
often  remarked  this,  and  has  made  me  laugh  heartily.  As  not 
being  able  in  conscience  to  natter  myself  that  I  have  anything 
pretty  about  me,  I  have  adopted  the  course  of  being  the  first 
to  laugh  at  my  own  ugliness.  This  has  succeeded  well  with 
me,  and  I  have  often  had  occasion  to  laugh."* 

This  is  the  portrait  of  the  duchess  drawn  by  herself;  but  in 
consideration  of  the  modesty  which  this  woman,  grossly  immo- 
dest in  every  other  respect,  displays  in  disclaiming  all  personal 
attractions,  she  is  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  moderate  com- 
mendation which  her  outward  appearance  has  received  from 
others.  In  another  part  of  her  narrative,  she  tells  us  that  in 
youth  she  was  slender,  but  grew  stout  in  mature  womanhood. 
Madame  Sevigne  simply  tells  us  that  she  was  by  no  means  a 
brilliant  beauty,  that  her  features  were  masculine,  her  figure 
coarse  and  full,  and  her  countenance  robust. 

The  Due  de  St.  Simon  has,  however,  been  able  to  point  out 
some  merits  in  her  face  and  figure,  and  is  pleased  even  with 
her  small  eyes.  "  Her  complexion,"  he  says,  "  her  bosom,  and 
her  arms  were  admirable,  and  so  were  her  eyes."  These  par 
ticulars,  we  should  think,  would  have  made  her  at  least  tolera- 
ble. "  Her  mouth,"  he  adds,  "was  well  enough.  She  had 
fine  teeth,  a  little  long;  her  cheeks  were  too  large  and  too 
hanging,  which  spoiled  her,  but  did  not  destroy  her  beauty. 
What  disfigured  her  most  were  the  places  for  her  eyebrows, 
which  were  peeled  off  and  red,  with  very  few  hairs.     Her  eye- 

*  "  Memoires  sur  la  Cour  de  Louis  XIV.  etde  la  Regence,  Extraits  de 
la  Correspondance  Allemande  de  Madame  Elizabeth- Charlotte,  Duchesse 
d  Orleans,"  p.  2.     Paris,  1823. 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  ORLEANS.  325 

lids  were  beautiful,  and  her  chesnut  hair  was  well  arranged. 
"Without  being  a  hunchback  or  deformed,  she  had  one  side 
larger  than  the  other,  and  walked  awry." 

Here,  it  will  be  observed,  is  a  discovery  of  beauties  and  of 
defects  which  Madame  herself  had  omitted,  or  affected  to  omit 
discovering.  The  swelling  on  her  side  is,  however,  noticed  in 
another  manner  by  the  duchess.  She  tells  us  that,  "  I  am  na- 
turally a  little  melancholy,  and  when  any  thing  vexes  me,  my 
left  side  swells  as  if  I  had  a  ball  of  water  within  me."* 

With  characteristic  coarseness  of  mind  and  manners,  the 
duchess,  no  doubt  considering  that  no  kind  of  polite  acquire- 
ments can  add  lustre  to  royal  blood,  never  learned  to  either 
speak  or  write  decently  the  language  of  her  adopted  country. 
The  puppyism  of  the  great  Frederick,  in  encouraging  the  use 
of  French  at  his  court,  and  discouraging  his  own  nobler  Ger- 
man, was  not  better  evidence  of  vulgarity  of  mind  than  the 
duchess's  neglect  in  learning  the  language  of  the  court  in 
which  she  lived,  and  the  pride  she  took  in  her  ignorance  as 
something  quite  in  accordance  with  the  dignity  of  her  royal 
birth  and  ancient  lineage. 

The  rudeness  of  John  Bull  is  sufficiently  marked  in  his  ad- 
herence, wherever  he  is  placed  and  whatever  lands  he  may 
visit,  to  the  monotonous  round  of  English  eating  and  English 
cookery.  This  weakness  was  intense  in  the  duchess  At  the 
court  of  France,  she  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  anything  that 
was  French.  She  would  defile  her  royal  mouth  with  nothing 
but  German  dishes.  She  stuck  spitefully  to  her  saur-kraut 
and  salad  dressed  with  hog's  lard  ;  and  persuaded  Louis  to 
join  her  in  her  omelette  with  pickled  herrings. 

"  I  breakfast  rarely,"  she  says,  "  and  on  nothing  but  bread 
and  butter.  I  take  neither  chocolate,  coffee,  nor  tea;  I  cannot 
endure  these  foreign  drugs.  I  am  German  in  all  my  habits — 
and  I  think  nothing  good  either  in  eating  or  drinking  except 

*  "  Memoires,"  &c  p.  3. 


326  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

what  is  in  conformity  with  our  ancient  usages.  I  taste  no 
soup,  excepting  what  is  prepared  with  milk,  beer,  or  wine." 

She  then  alludes  to  the  ordinary  French  dishes,  the  tasting 
of  which  makes  her  sick.  Her  body,  she  says,  swells,  and  she 
suffers  from  colic,  sometimes  vomiting  till  the  blood  comes.  In 
this  case,  the  duchess  assures  us  that  nothing  but  ham  and 
sausages  were  capable  of  putting  her  stomach  to  rights  again. 
"  I  never  had  French  manners,"  she  says,  "  and  I  could  not 
adopt  them,  as  I  have  always  regarded  it  as  an  honor  to  be  a 
German,  and  to  preserve  the  maxims  of  my  country,  which 
rarely  succeed  here." 

This  repulsive  woman  regretted  that  she  had  not  been  crea- 
ted of  the  other  sex.  In  her  girlhood,  she  preferred  swords 
and  guns  to  dolls,  and  made  some  desperate  attempts  to  be- 
come a  boy.  Having  heard  the  story  of  that  Marie  Germain, 
who,  by  practising  leaping,  had  changed  her  sex,  she  imitated 
her  example,  and  made,  as  she  says,  such  terrible  leaps,  that  it 
was  a  miracle  that  she  did  not  a  hundred  times  break  her  neck. 

In  an  after  part  of  her  work,  this  repulsive  woman  expresses 
something  like  dissatisfaction  with  the  means  appointed  by 
Providence  for  the  continuance  of  the  human  race.  Agreeing 
with  Sir  Thomas  Browne  on  this  point,  she  does  not  express 
herself  with  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  politeness.* 

*  "  J'ai  ete  bien  aise  quand,  apres  la  naissance  de  ma  fil'e,  mon  epoux 
a  fait  lit  a  part,  car  je  n'ai  point  aime  le  metier  de  faire  des  enfans. 
C  etait  aussi,  bien  desagreable  de  coucber  avec  Monsieur  ;  il  ne  pouvoit 
souffrir  qu'on  le  touchat,  pendant  son  sommeil ;  il  fallait  done  me  coucher 
sur  le  bord  du  lit,  d'on  je  suis  tombee  quelquefois  comme  un  sac.*' — 
Memoires,  p.  12.  Those  to  whom  details  of  the  lives  of  the  great  have 
a  peculiar  value,  will  be  pleased  with  these  little  domestic  events,  related 
by  a  lady,  of  the  unapproachable  grandeur  of  the  duchess.  In  an  after 
part  of  her  Memoirs,  she  lets  us  know  that  Louis's  amiable  queen,  of 
whom  it  may  be  remarked  that  she  has  no  slander  to  tell,  by  no  means 
sympathized  with  her  in  the  peculiar  notion  which  she  shared  with  the 
philosopher  of  Norwich.  -  See  Memoikes,  p.  84. 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  ORLEANS.  327 

I  have  noticed  in  another  place  that  a  young  man  on  being 
reproved  by  Pythagoras,  is  said  to  have  died  of  grief,  to  the 
deep  affliction  of  the  philosopher.  The  Duchess  of  Orleans 
tells  us  with  infinite  satisfaction,  that  she  caused  the  death  of  a 
young  lady  by  an  admirable  scolding  which  she  gave  her,  and 
which  the  duchess  herself  reports,  adding  that  Louis  would 
say  in  allusion  to  this  event,  "  One  must  not  trifle  with  you  in 
regard  to  your  house  ;  life  depends  on  it."  The  crime  which 
this  lady  committed,  was  that  she  and  her  sister  had  stated, 
probably  with  perfect  truth,  that  they  were  Countesses  Palatine 
of  Lutzelstein.  The  duchess  in  a  fury,  called  her  a  liar  and  a 
bastard,  and  her  mother  the  worst  of  all  names;  assuring  her 
that  if  even  the  Count  Palatin  had  been  regularly  married  to 
her  mother,  who  belonged  to  the  house  of  Gehlen,  her  daugh- 
ter was  not  the  less  a  bastard  for  all  that,  as  in  the  case  of 
Counts  Palatin,  marriages  with  women  below  their  own  rank 
are  not  valid,  and  that  her  mother's  real  husband  wTas  a  haut- 
boy player;  and  that  if  she  ever  dared  again  in  her  life  to  say 
that  she  was  a  Countess  Palatin,  she  would  cause  her.  petti- 
coats to  be  cut  off.  "  The  girl,"  adds  the  duchess,  and  this  is 
all  she  does  add,  "  took  this  so  much  to  heart,  that  she  died 
of  it  very  soon  after."  The  other  sister  and  Countess  Palatin 
she  caused  to  change  her  name,  void  allowed  her  to  fly;  je  Vai 
laisse  court/- * 

*  "  Memoires.'' p.  81.  I  have  not  been  able  to  do  justice  to  the  bru- 
'tality  of  the  duchess  in  this  scene.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the 
French  :  "  J  appelai  Tune  des  filles  et  lui  demandai  qui  elle  etait.  Elle 
me  dit  en  face,  qu'elle  etait  une  Comtesse  Palatine  de  Lutzelstein.  De  la 
main  gauche  7  "  Non,"  repnndit  elle  ;  **  je  ne  suis  point  batarde ;  le  jeune 
Comte  Palatin  a  epouse  ma  mere,  qui  est  de  la  maison  de  Gehlen."  Je 
lui  dis  :  "  En  ce  cas  vous  ne  pouvez  etre  Comtesse  ;  car  chez  nous  autres 
Comtes  Palatin s  les  mesalliances  ne  sont  d  aucune  valeur  ;  je  dirai  encore 
plus ;  tu  mens  en  disant  que  Je  Comte  Palatin  a  epouse  ta  mere ;  c'est  une 
putaine  avec  laquelle  le  Comte  Palatin  peut  avoir  couche  comme  tant 
d'autrcs  ;  je  sais  qui  est  son  veritable  mari,  c  est  un  hautbois.     Si  a 


328  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

It  is  only  a  selection  of  the  personal  characteristics  of  this 
repulsive  woman  as  described  by  herself,  that  can  be  presented 
to  a  modern  reader.  She  has  told  of  her  own  sex,  as  for  in- 
stance of  Madame  Maintenon,  and  of  Catharine  of  Sweden, 
horrible  things,  as  horrible  as  any  that  Suetonius  has  related 
of  Tiberius  or  Caligula;  things  not  hinted  at,  even  by  the 
most  scandalous  of  male  writers.  She  wrote  continually,  and 
circulated  amongst  the  princesses,  and  the  female  nobility  of 
the  continent,  such  abominable  letters  as  the  most  despised  of 
her  sex  would  hardly  read,  receiving,  it  must  be  presumed, 
from  some  of  her  fair  and  royal  correspondents,  returns  of  a 
quality  not  unsimilar  to  that  of  the  communications  which  she 
sent  them. 

"  The  numerous  correspondences,"  says  the  French  editor 
of  the  selected  letters  which  I  have  used,  "  are  probably  yet 
buried  in  the  archives  of  Spain,  of  Naples,  of  Berlin,  and  other 
great  cities.  Two  or  three  correspondents  only  have  been 
published,  at  least  in  extracts.  The  princess  wrote  a  barbar- 
ous German,  mingled  with  the  provincialisms  of  the  Palatinate 
and  French  phrases  ;  there  is  in  her  expressions  an  indecency 
which  treats  nothing  gently,  and  which  contrasts  strangely 
with  the  delicate  and  graceful  style  of  the  Sevignes,  Cayl  uses, 
Maintenons,  and  other  women  of  the  court  of  Louis  XIV. 
The  correspondence  forms,  however,  a  true  Chronique  Scan- 
claleuse ;  all  the  anecdotes  afloat  find  a  place  in  them.  What 
an  increase  of  light  there  will  one  day  be,  when  these  archives' 
will  be  open  to  give  to  the  public  the  rest  of  this  voluminous 
correspondence  !  Many  families  may  be  offended  at  it,  but 
the  history  of  manners  will  gain  much.  A  false  brilliancy  has 
long  dazzled  the  eyes  of  posterity  in  regard  to  the  age  of  Louis 
XIV;  it  is  w7ell  that  this  illusion  should  be  destroyed  by  per- 
sons who  were  close  witnesses  of  its  pretended  grandeurs,  and 

l'avenir  tu  te  fais  pesser  pour  une  Comtessc  Palatin,  je  te  ferai  couper  les 
jupes  au  ras  du  cuV     Memoires,  p.  81. 


THE  DUCHESS  OF  ORLEANS.  329 

who  had  the  good  sense  to  appreciate  them   at   their   true 
worth."* 

As  there  is  here  a  compliment  paid  to  the  good  sense  of 
Madame — the  existence  of  which  is  extremely  doubtful — and 
as  other  writers  have  spoken  of  her  virtues,  it  may  be  as  well 
just  to  notice,  that  her  possession  of  virtue,  in  the  restricted 
sense,  has  not  been  disputed.  She  is  just  a  specimen  of  the 
fact  that  as  a  woman  may  lose  her  honor  without  losing  that 
modesty  which  should  have  been  its  safeguard,  so  a  woman 
may  be  perfectly  virtuous  in  the  qualified  sense  of  the  word, 
as  Madame  was,  and  utterly  destitute  of  a  rag  or  shadow  of 
s"hame,  as  she  also  was.  Neither  the  Greek  Theodora  (whose 
history  Madame  had  studied  in  the  free  pages  of  Procopius,) 
nor  the  Roman  Messalina,  was  in  heart  and  soul  more  de- 
bauched than  this  virtuous  Duchess  of  Orleans. 
*  "  Memoires,"  Avis  de,  l'Editeur,  p.  33. 


MADAME   DE   MAINTENON 


The  great  personal  beauty  of  Madame  de  Maintenon  is 
admitted  by  all  her  contemporaries,  even  by  those  women  of 
her  time  who  hated  her  most ;  and  never,  certainly,  was  woman 
more  sincerely  and  ardently  hated.  This  hatred  has  descended 
to  our  own  times,  aud  I  have  never  met  a  woman,  and  certainly 
not  often  a  man,  acquainted  with  her  history,  who  did  not 
regard  Madame  de  Maintenon,  the  decorous,  prudish,  and 
apparently  devout  wife  of  Louis  XIV.,  as  by  far  the  worst  of 
all  the  ladies  of  the  French  court  in  her  days. 

The  Baroness  d'Oberkirch  speaks  the  general  opinion  of 
this  beautiful,  accomplished,  and  highly  intellectual  woman 
when  she  says :  u  Of  all  the  women  of  infamous  celebrity,  I 
feel  the  greatest  antipathy  to  Madame  Maintenon,  notwith- 
standing the  marriage,  which  cast  a  veil  over  her  errors."  It 
is  here  assumed  that  Madame  de  Maintenon  was  profligate  ;  a 
charge  for  which,  whatever  faults  she  had,  there  is  certainly  a 
want  of  proof ;  while  it  is  certain  that,  for  many  a  long  year, 
she  endured  the  greatest  poverty,  which  she  could  at  onoe  have 
relieved,  if  she  had  been  regardless  of  her  reputation.  Her 
marriage  with  the  king  was,  I  suspect,  an  unforgiveable  crime 
with  the  Baroness  d'Oberkirch. 

(330) 


MADAME  DE  MAINTENON.  331 

The  figure  of  Mademoiselle  d'Aubigne  was  tall  and  grace- 
ful, and  when,  as  the  widow  Scarron,  she  was  brought  to 
court  at  the  age  of  forty,  she  was  a  perfectly  charming  woman. 
Her  air  and  walk  were  dignified  and  modest  beyond  descrip- 
tion. Her  arms  were  beautiful,  and  her  hands,  as  her  whole 
complexion  was,  were  exceedingly  fair.  All  who  have  spoken 
of  her  have  noticed  her  remarkably  fine  large  black  eyes,  which 
charmed  those  on  whom  she  smiled,  and  overawed  those 
wiio  dreaded  her  enmity. 

Her  first  husband,  the  hunchbacked,  invalid,  and  witty 
Scarron,  whom  she  married  when  she  was  but  sixteen,  has 
given  a  humorous  enumeration  of  the  items  of  her  marriage 
portion,  particularizing  amongst  the  stock  «  a  pair  of  large, 
black,  killing  eyes,  an  elegant  figure,  a  pair  of  fine  hands,  and 
a  great  deal  of  wit." 

The  lovely  Montespan,  who,  like  Louis,  regarded  Maintenon 
as  her  religious  instructor,  and  looked  up  to  her  with  awe,  on 
the  occasion  of  her  being  delivered  of  a  daughter,  writes  to 
Maintenon  praying  her  to  come  and  see  her;  "but  do  not," 
she  says,  tremblingly,  for  Montespan's  religion  was  sincere  and 
deep,  and  the  pious  reproofs  with  which  Maintenon  visited 
her  frailty  often  shook  her  soul  with  terror,  "  do  not  glare  at 
me  with  those  black  eyes  of  yours  ;  they  frighten  me."  The 
ugly  Duchess  of  Orleans,  who  hated  Maintenon  not  certainly 
for  her  vices,  even  the  horrible  and  unnatural  vices  which  she 
falsely  attributes  to  her,  but  for  having  dared  to  marry  the 
king,  admits  that  Maintenon  "  was  eloquent,  and  had  fine  eyes." 
The  expression  of  Madame  de  Maintenon's  face  was 
extremely'varied.  There  was  usually  a  calm  gravity  about 
her  features,  which,  at  first%  repelled  the  king;  but  when 
Maintenon  had  a  purpose  to  serve  by  being  agreeable,  her 
smile  was  perfectly  bewitching,  and  her  manners  sweetly  gra- 
cious. The  form  of  the  lower  part  of  her  face  was"  particular- 
ly fine,  the  chin  and  the  mouth  being  exquisitely  shaped.  The 


332  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

fairness  of  her  skin  was  remarkable.  "  Her  black  eyes,"  says 
her  biographer,  La  Beaumelle,  "  contrasted  with  the  whiteness 
of  her  skin,  like  fire  sparkling  amidst  snow." 

The  art  of  dressing  to  advantage,  Madame  de  Maintenon, 
whose  taste  was,  like  that  of  Louis,  exquisite  in  everything, 
understood  far  better  than  any  other  woman  in  the  court 
where  she  reigned,  where  every  one  exerted  all  her  talents  and 
skill,  and  art  to  please,  fascinate,  and  seduce.  Her  attire,  ac- 
cording to  Madame  Sevigne,  wTas  rich,  but  modest ;  other  ac- 
counts bear  that  a  plain,  unexpensive  dress,  when  she  put  it 
on,  assumed  an  appearance  of  costliness.  Like  the  ancient 
Poppsea  she  is  said  to  have  heightened  the  effect  of  her  charms 
by  a  modest  concealment  of  them.  The  Countess  of  Blessing- 
ton,  who  had  in  her  possession  a  neckerchief  pin,  said  to  have 
once  belonged  to  Maintenon,  attributes,  in  a  very  indelicate 
passage  in  one  of  her  works,  the  modest  style  in  which  the 
royal  favorite  dressed  to  true  art;  maliciously  insinuating  that 
a  more  loose  fashion  of  attire  would  have  been  injurious  to  the 
effect  of  what  was  concealed.  In  other  words,  the  bust  of 
Madame  Maintenon  was  not  so  elegantly  formed  as  that  of  the 
"  gorgeous  Lady  Blessington." 

The  Duchess  of  Orleans,  who  cannot  allude  to  Madame 
Maintenon  without  prefixing  to  her  name  the  worst  epithet 
which  her  impure  mind  can  suggest,  and  who  seldom  speaks 
of  her  without  charging  her  with  some  crime,  tells  us  of  one 
innocent  art  which  it  appears  Maintenon  had  recourse  to,  to 
make  her  person  agreeable,  or  rather  to  conceal  a  defect. 
"  Nobody  at  court,"  says  Madame,  "  used  perfumes,  except 
Old  Maintenon."  La  vieitte  Maintenon  is  the  expression  of  her 
French  translator,  but  he  lets  us  understand  in  his  preface  that 
he  has  been  obliged»to  curtail  the  exuberant  filthiness  of  Ma- 
dame's  vocabulary,  and  that  in  the  original  German  the  sub- 
stantive never  fails  to  be  accompanied  by  a  shockingly  offen- 
sive adjective — die  alte  Zote ;  "  an  expression,"  he  adds  with 


MADAME  DE  MAINTENON.  333 

infinite  grace,  which  the  delicacy  of  the  French  language  does 
not  permit  me  to  translate,  and  which  contains  nothing  flatter- 
in  o-  to  the  morals  of  her  to  whom  it  refers.  "What  a  hatred 
must  have  existed  between  these  two  women  to  carry  them  to 
such  extremities  !  It  is  well  that  the  public  should  know 
these  things,  in  order  to  avoid  the  chimerical  notions  which 
are  usually  entertained  about  the  amenity  of  courts,  and  parti- 
cularly that  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth."* 

For  whatever  reason  Madame  de  Maintenon  might  have 
used  perfumes,  it  could  not  have  been  to  please  the  king ;  for 
if  we  are  to  believe  the  Duchess  of  Orleans— his  most  intimate 
friend,  next  to  Maintenon— Louis  hated  all  perfumes,  and 
could  not,  she  says,  endure  them  on  any  one  but  on  Maintenon. 
Yet  it  appears  from  the  context  of  this  passage  that  he  could 
not  suffer  them  even  on  her ;  for  she  says  that  when  in  his 
company  Maintenon  always  laid  the  blame  of  the  perfumes  on 
some  other  lady. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  this  revelation  about  the  perfumes  and 
the  deceptions  of  Maintenon  is  made  by  the  ugly  duchess  from 
the  most  malevolent  motive,  as  it  certainly  is  brought  forward 
with  all  the  skill  of  a  malignant  woman.  In  stating  the  bare 
facts,  she  leaves  the  intelligent  reader  to  save  her  the  trouble 
of  drawing  the  obvious  inference  which  must  be  drawn  from 
them,  that  after  all  Maintenon  had  not  every  personal  charm, 
and  that  nature,  so  liberal  to  her  in  face  and  form,  had  neglect- 
ed to  besow  on  her  "  the  cow's  ambrosial  breath,"  and  in  its 
stead  had  given  her  that  which  is  popularly  said  to  be  a  usual 
accompaniment  to  a  skin  of  extreme  whiteness  such  as  Main- 
tenon's  was.  Louis  had  a  pure  taste,  and  he  no  doubt  held 
with  Montaigne  that  there  is  a  natural  defect  to  hide  where 
grateful  odors  are  had  recourse  to  ;  and  with  the  ancient  dra- 
matists, that  a  woman  is  the  most  pleasantly  perfumed  when 
she  smells  of  no  perfume. 

*  "Memoires  sur  la  Cour  de  Louis  XIV.,"  p.  31. 


334  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS- 

Besides  those  great  powers  of  conversation  which  are  attest- 
ed by  so  good  a  judge  as  Madame  de  Sevigne,  and  so  fiendish 
an  enemy  as  the  Duchess  of  Orleans,  Maintenon  possessed  that 
rare  and  enviable  art  of  telling  a  story  beautifully,  which  has 
made  the  name  of  the  gifted  Princess  Scheherazade  immortal, 
and  rendered  her  memory  dear  to  all  generations  of  the  human 
race.  "What  a  compliment  is  implied  to  this  talent  of  hers  in 
what  is  related  of  her  when  she  was  the  humble  wife  of  Scar- 
ron,  and  when  her  visitors  were  the  most  intellectual  that 
Paris  could  afford,  that  her  guests  fed  on  her  discourse,  in  dis- 
regard of  the  quality  of  her  dinners,  the  occasional  meagreness 
of  which  was  overlooked  and  forgotten  in  the  delight  inspired 
by  the  fascinating  hostess.  "  There  must  be  another  story, 
Madame,"  whispered  a  female  attendant  to  her  one  day,  "for 
the  roast  is  too  small" 

The  truth  of  all  the  eulogies  bestowed  on  her  tongue  is 
more  than  substantiated  by  this  anecdote.  At  these  parties 
there  would  be  present  the  very  learned  Manage  and  the 
graceful  Count  de  Grammont ;  the  pleasant  Marchioness  de 
Sevigne  and  the  voluminous  Mademoiselle  de  Scuderi ;  the 
beautiful  Ninon  de  l'Enclos  and  the  ill-favored  Pelisson,  he  to 
whom  a  lady  once  said  :  "  Sir,  you  positively  abuse  the  privi- 
lege which  men  have  of  being  ugly." 

The  presence  of  the  famous  Ninon  at  Madam  Scarron's  par- 
ties has  been  laid  hold  of  as  a  proof  of  the  licentious  life  which 
some  of  her  less  judicious  enemies  have  charged  against  her. 
But  the  charge,  it  must  in  fairness  be  recollected,  would 
involve  in  the  same  censure  Madame  de  Sevigne,  Mademoiselle 
Scuderi,  and  many  other  women  whose  reputations  have  come 
down  untainted  to  our  times.  The  testimony  of  Ninon  her- 
self, who  despised  chastity  out  of  principle,  may  be  received  in 
behalf  of  Madame  Scarron.  She  has  told  us  contemptuously 
of  the  poet's  wife,  that  she  was  virtuous,  not  so  much  from 
coldness  of  constitution  as  from  weakness  of  mind.     "  I  might 


MADAME  DE  MAINTENON.  335 

easily  have  cured  her  of  that,  had  she  not  been  afraid  of  offend- 
ing God." 

Madame  de  Montespan  also,  though  profligate  herself  in 
morals,  appears  to  have  regarded  Madame  Maintenon  as  per- 
fectly virtuous.  She  committed  the  education  of  her  children 
to  her,  and  Madame  de  Montespan  was  just  the  woman  to  de- 
sire that  her  children  should  be  brought  up  in  the  paths  of  vir- 
tue, and  taught  to  avoid  the  errors  of  their  mother.  Through- 
out her  whole  wicked  career,  in  the  mind  of  Montespan  a 
painful  conflict  between  the  love  of  pleasure  and  the  most 
fervid  religious  impressions  tore  and  wrung  her  soul  with  re- 
morse. Her  history  relates  to  agonizing  and  convulsive  efforts 
which  at  different  times  she  made  to  divorce  from  her  heart  the 
love  of  the  king  ;  and  they  are  but  ill-read  in  the  deep  and  mys- 
terious histories  of  the  human  heart  who  will  attribute  to 
hypocrisy  the  religious  professions  made  by  such  a  woman  as 
she  was.  The  histories  of  the  pious  King  of  Israel,  of  St.  Au- 
gustin,  of  St.  Theresa,  and  of  many  more  obscure  saints  of 
both  sexes,  furnish  abundant  proof  that  that  constitution  which 
is  most  naturally  susceptible  of  high  devotional  feelings  is,  as 
a  natural  consequence  of  its  capacity  for  heavenly  love,  the 
weakest  to  resist  the  assailments  of  mere  earthly  passion. 

Madame  de  Maintenon  has  been  charged  with  hypocrisy  in 
her  religion  as  in  every  thing  else.  However  much  truth  there 
may  be  in  this,  it  is  certain  that  while  the  utmost  outward  de- 
corum marked  her  whole  behavior  in  every  station  in  life,  the 
wife  and  widow  of  Scarron,  and  the  favorite  and  wife  of  the 
king,  never  omitted  the  regular  discharge  of  all  the  religious 
observances  of  her  Church. 

There  are  strange  stories  told  of  the  mere  chances  by  which 
this  woman,  whose  name  bears  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  an- 
nals of  Europe  for  a  considerable  part  of  a  century,  escaped 
death  in  her  childhood.  She  came  to  the  world  in  a  loathsome 
dungeon,   where  her  father  and  mother  were  confined,  and 


336  CLASSIC    AND    HISTORIC    PORTRAITS. 

where  they  were  discovered  and  relieved  by  a  relative  when 
emaciated  with  hunger ;  the  infant  Francis  d'Aubigne,  then 
two  days  old,  crying  for  the  food  which  her  mother,  whose 
breasts  were  dried  up  by  distress,  could  not  give  her.  After 
being  thus  once  saved  from  the  jaws  of  death,  a  second  deliv- 
erance still  more  wonderful,  awaited  her  when  a  girl.  While 
with  her  father  and  her  mother  on  their  passage  to  America, 
she  fell  sick,  and  the  vital  energies  sunk  so  low  that  she  was 
believed  to  be  dead.  The  gun  was  loaded  which  was  to  give 
the  signal  for  committing  to  the  deep  that  beautiful  person 
which  was  destined  to  rule  the  most  splendid  court  in  Europe. 
A  sailor  had  the  body  of  the  little  Francis  d'Aubigne  in  his 
arms,  when  her  mother  desired  once  more  to  press  her  to  her 
bosom:  she  felt  her  heart  beating;  and  the  future  wife  of 
Louis  XIV.  was  restored  to  the  world. 

These  tales  do  savor  something  of  romance.  The  chief  par- 
ticulars are  related  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  M.  Anquetil  ;"  but  he 
is  not  so  distinct  as  could  be  wished  in  reference  to  the  autho- 
rities which  bear  him  out  in  his  marvellous  narrative.  One 
thing,  however,  is  certain,  that  in  childhood  Francis  d'Aubigne 
endured  much  poverty  and  harsh  usage,  having  been  particu- 
larly subjected  for  whole  years  to  the  tyranny  of  her  own  sex, 
a  calamity  which  it  may  be  believed  exercised  so  far  a  baneful 
influence  on  her  character — as  it  has  on  thousands  of  others 
similarly  circumstanced — as  to  help  to  foster  that  cold  sellish- 
ness  which  was  the  repulsive  feature  in  it.  It  has  been  men- 
tioned, that  in  her  girlhood,  as  if  foreseeing  the  elevation  which 
she  was  one  day  to  attain,  Mademoiselle  d'Aubigne  took  care 
to  preserve  her  beauty.  While  employed  in  a  farm-yard  look- 
ing after  poultry,  she  is  said  to  have  protected  from  the  attacks 
of  the  sun's  rays,  by  using  a  mask,  that  fair  face  which,  with 
her  other  graces,  afterwards  raised  her  to  the  supreme  au- 
thority in  France. 

There  are  several  persons  who  have  made  a  great  noise  in 


MADAME  DE  MAINTENON.  337 

the  world,  whose  existence,  immediately  after  birth,  is  said  to 
have  been  almost  miraculous ;  and  what  is  observed,  is  that 
such  persons,  when  the  first  danger  is  over,  become  more 
healthy,  more  beautiful,  and  often  more  long-lived  than  others. 
Such  was  Madame  de  Maintenon,  who  lived  in  the  enjoyment 
of  good  health  till  the  age  of  eighty -three.  St.  Francis  of 
Sales  was  a  seven  months'  child,  and  his  death  for  many  a  day 
was  daily  and -hourly  expected  ;  but  he  grew  up  to  manhood 
in  increasing  beauty  of  person  and  elegance  of  mind,  and  con- 
stantly improving  health,  and  died  in  a  mature  age. 

Such  was  the  profligate  Marechal  de  Eichelieu,  "  the  Nestor 
-of  gallantry,"  as  he  was  called,  destined  by  the  graces  of  his 
person  to  be  for  nearly  a  century  the  most  beloved  by  the 
other  sex,  as  he  was  perhaps  in  all  other  respects  the  most 
worthless  man  in  France ;  to  find  himself  surrounded  by  the 
hearts  of  constant  women,  while  he  himself  had  no  heart  at  all, 
and  to  marry  a  young  beauty  at  the  age  of  eighty -four. 

Richelieu,  in  this  circumstance,  if  in  nothing  else,  like  St. 
Francis  of  Sales,  was  a  seven  months'  child,  and  in  the  desper- 
ate hope  of  saving  him,  the  infant  was  swaddled  in  cotton  and 
placed  by  the  fire ;  his  parents  in  the  mean  time  endeavoring 
to  reconcile  their  minds  to  his  death.  His  father,  however, 
having  a  wise  horror  of  doctors,  kept  them  carefnlly  away 
from  the  cradle  of  his  child,  and  the  result  was  that  Nature 
took  him  into  her  own  hands,  and  reared  him  up  into  the  hand- 
somest man  in  France.  One  day  a  sudden  convulsion  appeared 
to  end  his  life,  and  he  was  for  some  minutes  regarded  as  dead, 
but  by  the  skill  of  a  femme  de  chambre  he  was  restored  to  the 
light  of  day.  The  singular  beauty  of  this  woman,  his  earliest 
female  acquaintance,  was  afterwards  remarked  as  prophetic  ot 
his  future  universal  favor  with  her  sex.  "  The  Marechal," 
says  one  of  his  biographers  with  a  delicate  wit,  u  spent  his 
lifetime  in  returning  her  thanksgivings."* 

•  "  Vie  privee  du  Marechal  de  Richelieu,  contenant  ses  amours  et  intri- 
15 


338  CLASSIC   AND   HISTORIC   PORTRAITS. 

There  is  rather  a  pretty  epigrammatic  epitaph  on  the  Mare- 
chal,  ascribed  to  the  pen  of  Maintenon,  who,  however,  died 
long  before  him.  His  name  was  Louis  Francis  Amand  du 
Plessis.     I  can  only  now  give  an  English  version  of  the  lines. 

"  Here  lies  Amand, 

Whom  Cupid  gave,  in  malice  to  the  fair, 

His  smile,  his  quiver,  and  his  wings  to  wear." 

gues  et  tout  ce  qui  a  rapport  aux  divers  roles  qu'a  joues  cet  homme  cele- 
bre  pendant  plus  de  quatre-vingt  ans.  torn,  i,  p.  2.  Paris,  1791.  The 
following  is  an  extract  regarding  the  Marechalfrom  the  Editor's  preface  : 
"  L'amour  le  traita  encore  plus  favorablement ;  toutes  les  femmes  se  dis- 
putaient  son  coeur ;  les  pleurs  qu'il  devoit  leur  faire  repandrc  ne  les 
empechoient  pas  de  voler  au  devant  de  1'infidele  ;  elles  etoient  encore 
heureuses  de  partager  entr'elles  la  portion  de  l'amour  qu'il  daignoit  leur 
accorder." 


CATHAKINE    OF    EUSSIA 


The  personal  appearance  of  this  interesting  woman,  and 
her  mode  and  habits  of  life,  are  easily  gathered  from  the 
concurring  accounts  of  various  writers  who  had  seen  her 
familiarly.  At  the  age  of  forty-three  she  was  in  the  full 
power  of  her  robust  style  of  beauty,  and  perfectly  elegant 
in  her  figure,  which  was  purely  feminine  from  the  shoulders 
to  the  feet,  which  were  remarkably  handsome,  and  of  which 
she  was  very  proud. 

In  her  latter  years,  her  extreme  corpulence  made  her  ap- 
pear not  so  tall  as  she  was  in  youth.  Her  face  had  consider- 
able comeliness  in  it.  Her  forehead,  though  well  formed  and 
free,  was,  however,  larger  than  is  pleasant  in  a  woman — 
and  there  was  something  of  a  want  of  feminine  grace  about 
the  lower  parts  of  her  face.  Her  eyes  were  large,  and  of  a 
pleasant  greyish-blue,  as  they  have  been  generally  described 
— though  less  favorable  observers  have  noticed  something 
of  a  disagreeable  expression  in  them.  She  herself  also  was 
sensible  of  the  ill-effect  of  a  wrinkle  at  the  base  of  her  nose, 
and  wished  it  to  be  omitted  in  her  portraits.*     Her  neck  was 

"  The  celebrated  Lampie  had  lately  painted  a  striking  likeness  of  her, 
though  extremely  flattering  ;  Catherine,  however,  remarking  that  he  had 
not  entirely  omitted  that  unfortunate  wrinkle,  the  evil  genius  of  her  face 

0*39) 


340  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

thick,  but  well-turned;  and  not  short.  It  was  the  neck 
which  we  see  on  the  coins  of  the  voluptuous  Koman  em- 
perors and  empresses.  Her  bosom  was  full  and  her  shoul- 
ders very  finely  formed ;  and  all  who  have  spoken  of  her 
have  admired  the  grace  and  dignity  of  attitude  with  which 
she  wore  the  crown.  Her  hair,  which  was  of  a  beautiful 
light  brown,  she  dressed  wTith  much  simplicity  and  taste  ;  and 
her  taste  in  matters  of  dress  was  good.  She  improved  the 
attire  of  her  time,  and  sensible  of  the  fineness  of  her  bust, 
she  introduced  a  fashion  at  court  calculated  to  do  justice  to 
a  handsome  figure.  Since  her  time  the  ladies  of  Russia  have 
relapsed  into  a  former  costume,  which  does  the  greatest  in- 
jury to  the  best  forms. 

After  the  usage  of  her  country,  however,  Catharine  rouged 
grossl}'.     Her  walk  was  extremely  dignified  and  graceful,  and 

was  greatly  dissatisfied,  and  said  that  Lampi  had  made  her  too  serious  and 
too  wrinkled.  He  must  accordingly  retouch  and  spoil  the  picture,  which 
appeared  now  like  the  portrait  of  a  young  nymph.  The  celebrated  Le 
Brun,  who  was  at  Petersburgh,  and  who  could  not  obtain  the  honor  of 
taking  her  likeness  when  living,  saw  her  after  she  was  dead,  and  drew  it 
from  his  memory  and  imagination.  I  saw  the  rough  draught  of  this 
portrait,  which  was  extremely  like."— Secret  Memoirs  of  the  Court  of 
Petersburg,  particularly  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Catherine, 
vol.  ii,  p.  40.  Dublin,  1801.  This  work,  from  which  I  have  taken  some  of 
the  particulars  about  Catherine's  person,  professes  to  be  a  translation 
from  the  French,  though  there  is  no  reference  to  the  name  of  the  author. 
He  is  said,  however,  to  have  lived  about  ten  years  in  Petersburgh,  and  to 
have  been  frequently  near  the  person  of  the  Empress.  But  for  some 
unmistakable  French  eloquence  in  this  work,  there  would  be  something 
suspicious  in  the  statement  in  the  advertisment  prefixed,  in  which  we  are 
told  that  "  the  publishers  of  the  following  translation  have  been  induced, 
by  a  sense  of  decency  and  propriety,  to  suppress  or  soften  a  few  anecdotes 
contained  in  the  original,  the  grossness  of  which  would  undoubtedly  out- 
rage the  public  and  private  feelings  of  Englishmen."  Notwithstanding 
the  sacrifice  which  has  been  made  to  the  extreme  delicacy  of  "  the  public 
and  private  feelings  of  Englishmen,"  the  work  is  a  very  curious  contri- 
bution to  the  history  of  Catharine. 


CATHARINE  OF  RUSSIA.  341 

her  whole  carriage  and  movements  such  as  became  a  great 
empress.  Her  usual  dress  was  very  plain,  but  on  great  state 
and  solemn  occasions  she  appeared  with  her  hair  and  the  body 
of  her  dress  glittering  with  brilliants.  In  public  processions 
she  wore  a  coronet  of  diamonds.  The  habitual  expression  of 
her  features  was  that  of  the  utmost  composure,  characteristic 
of  the  calmess  and  mildness  of  her  disposition.  As  she  walked, 
she  usually  threw  her  eyes  on  the  ground.  Before  her  death 
she  had  become  excessively  corpulent ;  her  legs  were  swollen 
and  diseased,  which  impaired  her  grace  in  walking ;  and  most 
of  her  teeth  were  gone,  which  disfigured  her  face,  besides  ren- 
dering her  speech  indistinct.  Her  voice  also  was  hoarse  and 
broken. 

Catharine  had  a  cultivated  mind,  a  love  and  a  taste  for  music, 
painting  and  statuary,  and  a  good  appreciation  of  the  value 
of  literature,  of  which  she  wTas  not  merely  a  generous  but  a 
most  judicious  patroness.  Like  her  lover  Potemkin,  she  wrote 
poetry.  She  never  danced,  but  in  the  ball-room  occupied  her- 
self at  a  card-table,  preferring  those  games  which  did  not 
interrupt  that  pleasant  and  good-natured  conversation  in 
which  she  so  much  delighted,  and  of  which  she  was  so  great  a 
mistress.  She  was  moderate  in  everything  but  in  love.  She 
contrasted  favorably  in  all  respects,  except  in  respect  of  her 
one  great  failing,  with  her  predecessor  the  empress  Elizabeth, 
who  had  her  fair  share  of  that  great  failing  also,  and  was 
besides,  what  Catharine  was  not,  a  religious  hypocrite,  a 
drunkard,  and  a  truly  royal  and  enormous  eater. 

Summer  and  winter,  Catharine  rose  early,  and  as  she 
desired  to  give  as  little  trouble  as  possible  to  her  servants,  even 
in  a  country  where  servants  are  slaves,  made  her  breakfast  of 
coffee  for  herself,  and  generally  finished  her  toilet  without 
assistance. 

It  seems  to  be  but  seldom  recollected  that  it  is  the  splen- 
dor of  Catharine's  talents  and  the  greatness  of  her  virtues,  as 


342  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

compared  with  those  of  other  sovereigns,  that  have  brought  so 
much  to  light,  and  placed  in  such  strong-  contrast  the  weak 
part  of  her  character.  By  those  who  speak  of  her  in  the 
coarse  and  viralent  language  which  Lord  Brougham  has 
employed  in  reference  to  her  amors,  it  is  entirely  forgotten 
that  before  her  and  around  her  on  every  side  Catharine  could 
never  have  seen  examples  of  anything  whatever  but  of  the 
coarsest,  the  most  undisguised,  and  the  most  regular  and  for- 
mal licentiousness. 

At  the  court  of  Eussia  it  certainly  could  not  be  said,  in  the 
language  of  Burke,  that  "  viee  itselflost  half  its  evil  by  losing 
all  its  grossness."  On  the  other  hand,  Catharine  could  not,  in 
the  society  in  which  she  lived,  see  an  example  of  any  of  the 
great  virtues  which  she  herself  possessed,  and  which  were 
wholly  her  own,  being  far  above  those  of  her  country,  her 
age,  her  rank,  and  in  some  respects  even  of  her  sex.  She 
was  one  of  those  women  who  could  neither  be  vicious  nor  vir- 
tuous on  a  small  scale.  •  There  was  a  magnificence  in  her  vir- 
tues, and  she  had  no  petty  weaknesses. 

Power  and  greatness,  so  generally  injurious  to  the  character 
of  women,  neither  dazzled  nor  corrupted  her.  Though  a  des- 
potic sovereign,  ruling  over  a  nation  of  barbarians,  she  ruled 
with  singular  humanity  and  beneficence.  The  good  of  her 
subjects  wTas  ever  near  and  dear  to  her  great  heart ;  she  pur- 
sued with  energy  every  measure  for  ameliorating  their  social 
condition.  Under  her  the  toleration  of  all  religious  opinions 
was  carried  out  to  the  full  extent  required  by  the  Gospel,  at  a 
time  when  England  was  practising  the  basest  and  cruellest  per- 
secution. She  improved  the  criminal  law,  and  with  less  osten- 
tation, but  certainly  not  with  less  zeal,  wras  a  greater  reformer 
of  prison  discipline  than  Howard,  "  the  philanthropist,"  who 
when  in  her  capital  treated  her,  after  his  usual  harsh  fashion, 
with  a  rudeness  ill  deserved  by  one  who,   besides  her  conde- 


CATHARINE  OF  RUSSIA.  343 

scension  to  him,  had  been  so  distinguished  a  laborer  in  the 
cause  which  he  professed  to  have  so  much  at  heart. 

She  would  not  allow  the  execution  of  a  criminal  to  take 
place  in  any  part  of  her  immense  dominions  till  she  herself  had 
the  fullest  opportunity  of  making  herself  acquainted  with  the 
whole  circumstances  of  his  crime,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
extend  towards  him  that  mercy  which  she  always  delighted  to 
exercise. 

Such  she  was  as  a  ruler.  As  a  woman,  in  many  of  her  vir- 
tues, she  rose  far  above  the  general  level  of  those  of  her  sex 
who  are  free  from  her  great  vice,  and  are  regarded  by  them- 
selves and  by  the  world  as  models  of  female  virtue. 

It  has  been  said — and  history  shows  that  there  is  a  certain 
amount  of  truth  in  the  statement — that  a  woman  cannot  simply 
cease  to  love ;  that  when  her  love  begins  to  grow  lukewarm, 
a  reaction  has  commenced,  which  stops  short  of  nothing  but 
violent  hatred.  It  may  not-be  unnatural  that  a  woman  shall 
hate  the  man  who  is  in  possession  of  the  secret  of  a  passion 
which,  in  her,  has  died  away,  and  that;  where  the  power  exists 
she  will  desire  the  death  of  the  forsaken  lover. 

Thus  did  the  Assyrian  Semiramis,  if  tradition  so  hoary  as 
that  which  reaches  from  her  day  is  to  be  credited  ;  and  tradi- 
tion, though  it  may  not  be  always  true  to  history,  is  generally 
true  to  human  nature.*  Thus  also  did  the  three  beautiful  and 
voluptuous  princesses  of  Burgundy,  whose  wantonness  and 
cruelty  have  given  a  romantic  interest  to  the  history  of  tho 
Tower  of  Nesle. 

Catharine  was  more  powerful  than  these  princesses,  and 
lived  in  a  more  barbarous  age,  and  she  was  as  powerful  as  the 
Assyrian  queen  ;  but  she  showed  that  cruelty  is  not  the  neces- 
sary companion  of  licentiousness.  Those  whom  she  divorced 
from  her  arms  were  not  deprived  of  her  favor  and  kindness. 
There   is  no  intance  of  her  ill-treating  any  of  her  discharged 

*  See  Diodorus  Siculus,  lib.  n,  c    13. 


344  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

lovers.  But  Catharine,  who  was  in  every  way  as  great,  was, 
in  many  respects,  a  very  good  woman.  Her  highest  praise — 
and  it  is  rare  praise — is  that  she  had  completely  overcome  the 
characteristic  guilt  of  women — the  great  and  repulsive  stain 
of  the  sex — even  of  those  women  who  are  otherwise  commend- 
able, and  who  regard  themselves  as  perfectly  pure,  which 
Catharine  was  too  humble  in  heart  to  do.  She,  before  whose 
footstool  the  highest  in  rank  were  equally  humbled  with  the 
lowest,  was  utterly  divested  of  that  passion  which  women  have, 
where  they  have  the  power,  of  oppressing,  degrading,  and  tor- 
turing their  own  sex — torturing  them  in  their  feelings,  I 
mean. 

Her  delight  was  to  make  all  her  domestics  around  her  happy, 
to  consult  their  comfort,  to  gratify  their  feelings,  and  to  sur- 
round herself  with  their  affections.  And  when  all  Russia 
lamented  the  death  of  its  great  sovereign,  the  warmest  tears 
were  shed  by  the  humblest  of  Catharine's  attendants,  who 
bewailed  the  loss  of  the  courteous  and  gracious  mistress,  who 
never  spoke  to  them  but  with  the  sweetest  familiarity,  and  with 
whom  they  had  freely  shared  in  that  cheerful  conversation, 
the  charm  which  was  felt  by  the  noblest  and  the  most  highly 
accomplished  in  the  land. 


MADAME   DE    STAEL. 


The  famous  Madame  de  Stael,  the  most  influential  political 
writer  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  century,  and  the  greatest  writer 
of  her  sex  of  whom  any  country  can  boast,  is  described  by 
most  of  those  who  had  seen  her  as  having  little  pretensions  to 
beauty,  or  being  what  in  the  slang  of  fashion  is  called  "  plain." 
The  coarse  lines  of  a  poet  in  the  "  Anti-jacobin,"  about  her 
u  purple  cheek  and  pimpled  nose,"  lines  no  doubt  inspired  by 
that  base  and  mean  hatred  with  which  feeble-minded  men 
regard  women  whose  intellect  throws  their  own  into  obscurity 
have  no  doubt  contributed  to  keep  alive  an  erroneous  idea  that 
she  was  positively  ugly.  This  is  the  opinion  expressed  by 
M.  Chasles,  in  a  passage  which  I  have  quoted  in  the  sketch  of 
Sappho.  The  modern  Corinne  was  no  ways  the  rival  in 
beauty  of  her  Boeotion  namesake,  whose  charms  deluded  the 
sense  of  the  judges  who  five  times  over  awarded  her  the  prize 
in  lyric  poetry  over  Pindar  himself,*  and  with  whose  name 

*  Of  Corinna,  the  most  beautiful  of  the  Greek  poetesses,  there  was, 
according  to  Pausanias,  a  portrait  in  the  public  gymnasium  of  the  city  of 
Tanagra,  representing  her  as  a  most  beautiful  woman,  with  a  fillet 
wreathed  round  her  temples,  on  account  of  her  having  excelled  Pindar 
in  poetry.  The  vanquished  poet  gave  expression  to  his  wrath  by  ungal- 
lantly  calling  Corinna  "  a  pig  "  From  this  expression,  handed  down  to 
15*  (345) 


346  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

Madame  de  Stael  has  associated  her  own  by  adopting  it  as 
the  title  of  perhaps  her  most  celebrated  work. 

A  woman,  however,  who  had  seen  her,  and  must  have  de- 
spised her  with  all  her  transcendent  intellectual  gifts,  for  want 
of  the  dull,  sluggish  blood  of  high  aristocracy  in  her  veins, 
admits  quite  enough  to  redeem  the  modern  Corinne  from  the 
imputation  of  being  entirely  destitute  of  personal  attractions. 
"  But  for  her  eyes,  which  are  splendid"  says  the  Baroness 
d'Oberkirch,  "  one  would  almost  say  that  she  is  ugly.  Her 
figure  is  beautiful ;  she  is  very  fair,  and  there  is  a  sparkling 
intelligence  in  her  glance."*  A  woman  with  splendid  eyes,  a 
sparkling  intelligence  in  her  glance,  and  a  beautiful  figure,  can- 
not well  be  despicable  in  point  of  personal  comeliness. 

But  Madame  de  Stael  had  more  points  of  beauty  than  these. 
Her  fair  complexion  was  contrasted  with  her  thick,  strong 
coal-black  hair.  There  was  that  largeness  and  bold  outline 
about  her  features  which  mark  a  decided  and  intellectual 
character,  and  gratify  a  vigorous  taste;  and  when  such  fea- 
tures have  once  made  an  impression,  they  retain  their  hold  on 
the  mind  more  powerfully  than  a  face  with  gentler  and  more 
delicate  lines.  And  though  Madame  de  Staei  was  not  a 
Nourmahal,  her  face,  it  is  admitted,  displayed  a  continually 
changing  expression  in  accordance  with  the  emotions  of  her 
soul,  and  with  the  infinitely  varying  tones  of  her  voice. 

us  by  JElian,  M.  Philarete  Chasles  draws  the  inference  that  Corinna  was 
very  stoat  in  person.  I  cannot  see  any  other  fair  inference  that  can  be 
drawn  from  it  than  that  Pindar,  as  might  have  been  expected  of  a  poet 
under  such  circumstances,  had  lost  his  temper  and  behaved  like  a  beast. 
The  belief  of  the  world  is,  that  it  was  the  beauty  of  Corinna's  person, 
and  not  her  poetry,  that  decided  the  award  of  the  judges.  "  On  reading 
her  works,"  says  Barthelemy,  as  the  young  Anacharsis,  "  we  are  tempted 
to  ask  why,  in  poetical  competitions  they  were  so  often  preferred  to 
those  of  Pindar  ;  but  when  we  view  her  portrait,  we  inquire  why  tbey 
have  not  always  obtained  the  preference." 

*  "Meraoir3  of  the  Baroness  d'Oberkirch,"  i,  816 


MADAME   DE   STAEL.  347 

When  her  mind  for  a  moment  was  but  faintly  excited,  her 
eyelids  appeared  to  be  heavy.  Her  stout  figure  which,  as  the 
Baroness  d'Oberkirch  admits,  was  beautiful,  was  shown  to 
advantage  by  the  grace  of  her  carriage.  It  is  not  always, 
though  it  might  be  thought  that  it  should  be  always,  that  a 
woman  with  a  fine  figure  has  a  long  with  it  that  grace  of  motion 
and  attitude  which  arises  from  the  control  of  a  refined  mind 
over  the  body. 

Napoleon's  Marie  Louise  had  an  admirable  figure  physically 
considered,  but  her  heavy  lumpish  soul  could  not  impart  ele- 
gance, or  anything  but  awkwardness  to  her  postures 

Madame  de  Stael's  arms  were  particularly  beautiful ;  their 
fine  rounded  form  is  to  be  seen  in  the  common  portraits  of  her. 
Some  accounts  bear  that  she  dressed  with  tawdriness  and  vul- 
garity ;  it  is  certain  that  she  loved  decided  and  gaudy  colors, 
and  committed  the  grave  offence  against  society  of  consulting 
her  own  taste  in  what  she  wore,  rather  than  adopting  the  pre- 
vailing modes. 

Madame  de  Stael  loved  poetry,  painting,  statuary,  architec- 
ture, music  and  dramatic  performances,  all  to  enthusiasm, 
as  she  did  everything  that  refines  and  elevates  humanity. 
Though  she  was  anything  but  learned  in  the  technicalities  and 
cant  of  criticism,  there  is  no  writer  of  her  country  who  has 
given  to  the  world  so  many  bright,  beautiful  and  profound 
thoughts  on  the  sentiment  of  art,  on  the  feelings  and  emotions 
which  its  master-pieces  excite.  There  has  been  much  written 
by  both  men  and  women  on  the  greatness  and  grandeur  of  St. 
Peter's,  but  nothing  that  is  worth  reading  when  it  is  placed 
beside  the  reflections  on  it  in  "  Corinne." 

Madame  de  Stael  was  a  musician,  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, and  in  private  theatricals  acted  with  the  enthusiasm 
and  emotion  which  might  be  expected  from  her  character.  In 
company  she  was  not  merely  a  splendid  talker,  but  to  this 
proud  character  she  added  the  more  amiable  one  of  being  an 


348  CLASSIC  AND  HISTORIC  PORTRAITS. 

earnest  and  attentive  listener.  It  has  been  remarked  to  her 
honor  that  she  made  no  hypocritical  avowals  of  humble  talents 
and  moderate  gifts — avowals  which  in  her  would  have  been 
most  offensive. 

When  w7e  reflect  that  Napoleon  did  not  only  not  admire  and 
reverence  this  woman  ;  that  he  did  not  merely  treat  her  rudely, 
but  proceeded  from  rudeness  to  persecution,  we  are  amazed 
that  his  mind  could  be  so  great  in  some  things,  so  mean  and 
miserable  in  others.  I  dare  say,  however,  that  Wellington  could 
have  seen  nothing  in  her  ;  but  Alexander  would  have  honored 
her  as  a  princess,  and  Csesar  would  have  adored  her. 


INDEX 


A 

Abelard,  204. 
iEsop,  9. 
Agathocles,  35. 
Agesilaus,  32. 
Aglais,  308. 
Agrippina,  132. 
Alcaeus,  4. 
Alcibiabes,  43. 
Alcuinus,  196. 
Alexander  the  Great,  56. 
Alfieri,  295. 
Alfred,  202. 

Amaltheo  Girolamo,  51. 
Anacreon,  98. 
Anna  Comnena,  4. 
Anne  of  Austria,  307. 
Anne  of  Brittany,  47. 
Antipater,  5. 
Apelles,  59. 
Aristametus,  182,  258. 
Aristotle,  40. 
Asclepiadorus,  104. 
Aspasia,  26. 
Aubigne,  M.  de,  215. 
Augustus,  97. 
Aulus  Gellius,  18 
Ausonius,  5. 

B 

Barbour,  John,  45. 
Baxter,  Richard,  234. 
Bayle,  5,  54,  81,  86,  116,  204, 
297. 


I  Beauvais,  Madame  de  la,  309. 
Bede,201. 
Bentley,  Dr.,  9, 
Bertha,  192. 

Blessington,  Countess  of,  332. 
Boadicea,  118. 
Boethius,  201. 
Borgia,  Cesar,  148,  248. 
Borgia,  Francis,  57,  249. 
Borgia,  Lucrezia,  240. 
Brantome,  82, 100, 113,  181,  191,  253, 

261,  280,  286. 
Bruce,  Robert,  219. 
Brucker,  122,  208. 
Brunchilde,  202. 
Bullen,  Anne,  250. 
Buhver,  Sir  Edward,  21. 
Bulwer,  Lady,  314. 
Burton,  56. 


Cesar,  Julius,  90. 
Cesonia,  115. 
Caligula,  109. 
Camoens,    209,  294,  296. 
Camus,  134. 
Caracalla,  149. 
Cardan,  Hier,  100, 131. 
Cassaubon,  Isaac,  104,  162. 
Castro,  Inez  be,  222 
Catharine  be'  Mebici,  261. 
Catharine  of  Russia,  339. 
269,  Catharine,  St.,  of  Sienna,  34. 
Cedrenus,  53. 


350 


INDEX 


Cervantes,  293. 
Charlemagne,  191. 
Charles  of  Sweden,  42,  305. 
Charron,  316. 

Chasles,  M.,  2,  6,  186,  202,  345. 
Chastelain,  George,  227. 
Chaucer,  166,188,  291. 
Chrysostom,   John,    112,    184,   185 

187,  234. 
Cleopatra,  78. 
Comitona,  183. 
Coligne,  Count  de,  314. 
CoauioDus,  144. 
Constantine  Manasses,  53. 
Corday,  Charlotte,  3. 
Corinna,  345. 
Cousin,  M.,  210. 
Crebillon,  M.,  208,  259. 


Dacier,  Madame,  7. 
Damocharis,  5. 
Dante,  217. 
Dares  Phrygius,  52. 
David  the  Painter,  241. 
Delaunaye,  M.,  206. 
Demetrius  Poliorcetes,  66. 
Demosthenes,  40. 
Descartes,  46. 
Deshoulieres,  Madam,  189. 
Diana  of  Poitiers,  253. 
Digbt,  SirKenelm,  299. 
Dion,  119,  132,  143. 
Diphilus,  8. 
DTsraeli   135,  264. 
Domitian,  36. 
Donne,  Dr.,  258. 
Douglas,  Sir  James,  46. 
Drayt,  Michael,  236. 
Drvden,  John,  302. 
Duchatelet,  312. 

E 

Eboli,  Princess  of,  50. 
Eginhart,  191. 
Elizabeth,  Qiteen,  273. 
Elizabeth  of  Hungary,  214. 
Epaminondas,  1 1 . 
Ecdocia,  180. 


Fenelon,  215. 
Francis  I.,  225. 


Galienus,  69. 
Gedouin  Abbe  de,  314. 
Genlis,  Madame  de,  315. 
Gerbert,  202. 
Germanicus,  106. 
Gervase,  207. 
Gibbon,  130,  180,  302. 
Gillies,  Dr.,  56. 
Gioto,  217. 

Gonzagua,  Lucrezia,  86. 
Grange,  Marie  de  la,  306. 
Gregory  of  Nyssa,  202. 
Gregory  of  Tours,  201. 
Grund,  Francis  J,  187. 

H 

Hallam,  Mr.,  201,  203. 
Hannibal,  41. 
Hector,  46. 
Helen  of  Troy,  52. 
Heliogabalus,  154. 
Heloise,  204. 
Henrysoun,  Robert,  13. 
Herodes  Atticus,  18. 
Hipponax,  8. 
Holbein,  252. 
Hortensius,  40. 
Howard,  John,  342. 
Hunt,  Leigh,  216,245. 


Isabella  of  Bavaria,  233. 


Jamblichas,  15. 

Jameson,  Mrs.  68,  89,  259,  284,  299. 

Jerome,  St.,  68. 

Jortin,  Dr.  61. 

Josephus,  139. 

Julia,  100. 


INDEX 


351 


Julian  the  Apostate,  174. 
Justinian,  184. 


Kavanagh,  Miss,  83. 
Knox,  John,  270. 


Ladislaus,  71. 

Larapi,  339. 

Lampridius,  144. 

Landor,  Walter,  245. 

Lauzun,  319. 

Lee,  Nathaniel,  128. 

Lenoir,  M.,  206. 

Liston,  Sir  Robert,  219. 

Lollia  Paulina,  111. 

Longus,  113. 

Louis  XIV  ,  322. 

Louis  of  Thuringia,  216. 

Luther,  215. 

Luzan,  Mademoiselle  de,  256. 

Lycippus,  58. 


Mahomet,  24,  92. 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  330. 

Malcolm  III.,  196. 

Mandeville,  B.,  107,  235 

Margaret  of  Navarre,  5,  188.  264. 

Margaret  of  Scotland,  197 

Marie  Louise,  347. 

Mary  of  Burgundy,  106. 

Mary  Queen  op  Scots,  282. 

Maximilian,  106. 

Maximus  Tyrius,  3. 

Merivale,  Mr.,  79,  90,  94. 

Menander,  49. 

Messalina,  66,  184. 

Mezerai,  192,  231,  232,  257,  262,  267 

269. 
Michelet,M,  78,91,  94,  96. 
Milto,  28 
Mithridates,  195. 
Monstrelet,  M.  228. 
Montaigne,   58,  108,  138,  189,  198, 

271,316. 
Montalembert,  M.,  214, 


Montespan,  Madame,  331,  335. 
Montesquieu,  33. 
Moxitensier,   Mademoiselle 

318. 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  236. 
Motteville,  Madame  de,  307. 
Moyne,  Pere  le,  50. 


Napoleon,  92,  348. 

Nero,  127. 

Newcastle,  Duchess  of,  138. 

Nicocles,  70. 

Ninon  de  l'Enclos,  312. 


Oberkirch,  Baroness,  d',  195,  346. 
Olivier  de  laMarche,  228. 
Orleans,  Duchess  of,  321. 
Otho,  140. 
Ovid,  112." 


Papire  Masson,  207. 
Paterculus,  90. 
Paton,  Noel,  217. 
Pelisson,  M.  334. 
Peter  of  Pisa,  196. 
Petronius   128. 
Phocion,  242. 
Planudes,  10. 
Plato,  39. 
Pliny,  111. 
Plotinus,  33. 
Polycarp,  61. 
Pope,  121,  248. 
Poppea  Sabina,  134. 
Procopius,  183. 
Pythagoras,  15. 


Rabelais,  37,  111. 
Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  73,  274. 
Richelieu  Marechal  de,  337. 
Roland,  Madame,  83. 
Roswida,  202. 
Rousset,  47,  268. 


352 


INDEX 


s 

Sales,  St.  Francis,  34,  215,  337. 

Sallust,  241. 

Sappho,  I. 

Scaliger,  104. 

Schurman,  Anna,  5, 

Scipio  Africanus,  75. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  149. 

Semiramis,  72,  343, 

Shore,  Jane,  236. 

Simon,  Due  de,  324. 

Sobieski,  John,  303 

Socrates,  35. 

Sorel  Agnes,  224. 

South  Dr.,  84,  303. 

Southey,  40,  265,  301. 

Stael  Madame  de,  345. 

Stanley,  Lady  Yenetia,  138,  299. 

Straton,  70. 

Surena,  71. 

Suriano,  261.  ' 

Sylla,  76. 


Tacitus,  57. 
Tasso,  294. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  136,  146,  283. 
Tertullian,  67,  112,  234. 
Theocritus,  121. 
Theodora,  183. 
Theresa,  Maria,  311. 
Theresa,  St.,  34. 


Thomson,  112. 
Thou,  M.  de,  256. 
Tibaldeo,  Antonio,  239. 
Tiberius,  104. 
Tiraboschi,  197. 
Titian,  249. 
Turpin,  Archbishop,  198 


Valliere,   Mademoiselle   de    la,    48, 

268. 
Vanni  Andrea,  34. 
Venette,  Nicolas,  263. 
Villenave,  M.,  205. 
Virgil,  121. 

w 

Walpole,  Horace,  279. 
Welcker,  7. 

William  of  Malmsbury,  201. 
William  the  Conqueror,  192. 
Winkelman,  291. 


Xenophon,  41. 
Xiphelin,  136. 


Zenoeia,  166. 


J.  S.  REDFIELD, 

110  AND  112  NASSAU  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

HAS  JUST  PUBLISHED: 


EPISODES  OF  INSECT  LIFE. 
By  Acheta  Domestica.     In  Three  Series  :  I.  Insects  of  Spring.- 
II.  Insects  of  Summer. —  III.    Insects  of  Autumn.     Beautifully 
illustrated.     Crown  8vo.,  cloth,  gilt,  price  $2.00  each.     The  same 
beautifully  colored  after  nature,  extra  gilt,  $4.00  each. 

"  A  book  elegant  enough  for  the  centre  table,  witty  enough  for  after  dinner,  and  wise 
enough  for  the  study  and  the  school-room.  One  of  the  beautiful  lessons  of  this  work  is 
the  kindly  view  it  takes  of  nature.  Nothing  is  made  in  vain  not  only,  but  nothing  is 
made  ugly  or  repulsive.  A  charm  is  thrown  around  every  object,  and  life  suffused 
through  all,  suggestive  of  the  Creator's  goodness  and  wisdom."— ]V.  Y.  Evangelist. 

"  Moths,  glow-worms,  lady-birds,  May-flieo,  bees,  and  a  variety  of  other  inhabitants  of 
the  insect  world,  are  descanted  upon  in  a  pleasing  style,  combining  scientific  information 
with  romance,  in  a  manner  peculiarly  attractive." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  The  book  includes  eolid  instruction  as  well  as  genial  and  captivating  mirth.  The 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  writer  is  thoroughly  reliable."— Examiner 


A 


MEN  AND  WOMEN  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 

By  Arsene  Houssate,  with  beautifully  Engraved  Portraits  of 
Louis  XV.,  and  Madame  de  Pompadour.  Two  volume  12mo. 
450  pages  each,  extra  superfine  paper,  price  $2.50. 

Contents.— Dufresny,  Fontenelle,  Marivaux,  Piron,  The  Abbe*  Prevost,  Gentil-Bernard, 
Florian,  Boufflers,  Diderot,  Gre"try,  Riverol,  Louis  XV.,  Greuze,  Boucher,  The  Van- 
loos,  Lantara,  Watteau,  La  Motte,  Dehle,  Abbe"  Trublet,  Buffon,  Dorat,  Cardinal  de 
Bernis,  Cre"billon  the  Gay,  Marie  Antoinette,  Made,  de  Pompadour,  Vade\  Mile.  Ca- 
margo,  Mile.  Clairon,  Mad.  de  la  Popelinifere,  Sophie  Arnould,  CreT>illon  the  Tragic, 
Mile.  Guimard,  Three  Pages  in  the  Life  of  Dancourt,  A  Promenade  in  the  Palais-Royal 
the  Chevalier  de  la  Clos. 
"  A  more  fascinating  book  than  this  rarely  issues  from  the  teeming  press.    Fascina- 

dng  in  its  subject ;  fascinating  in  its  style ;  fascinating  in  its  power  to  lead  the  reader  into 

castle-building  of  the  most  gorgeous  and  bewitching  description." — Courier  If  Enquirer. 
"  This  is  a  most  welcome  book,  full  of  information  and  amusement,  in  the  form  of 

memoirs,  comments,  and  anecdotes.    It  has  the  style  of  light  literature,  with  the  use- 

fulness  of  the  gravest    It  should  be  in  every  library,  and  the  hands  of  every  reader." 

Boston  Commonweallh. 
"  A  Book  op  Books.— Two  deliriously  spicy  volumes,  that  are  a  perfect  bonnt  bomcht 

Ibr  m  epicure  in  reading.*'— Home  Journmi,  ■ 


REDFIELD  S    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUBLICATION*. 


PHILOSOPHERS  AND  ACTRESSES 

By  Arsene  Houssaye.     With  beautifully-engraved  Portraits  or 
Voltaire  and  MadI  Parabere.     Two  vols.,  12mo,  price  $2.50. 

"We  have  here  the  most  charming  book  we  have  read  these  many  days,— s« 
powerful  in  its  fascination  that  we  have  been  held  for  hours  from  our  imperious  labor* 
or  needful  slumbers,  by  the  entrancing  influence  of  its  pages.  One  of  the  most  desir* 
hie  fruits  of  the  prolific  field  of  literature  of  thepvesenj:  senson." — Portland  Eclectic. 

"  Two  brilliant  nn*  *■«---- ""fy"c  .J.,a"  a^ost  said,  bewitching- volumes.  combi 
_:..0  ...mrmahon  and  amusement,  the  lightest  gossip,  with  solid  ana  serviceable  tvU 
dom." — Yankee  Blade. 

"  It  is  a  most  admirable  book,  full  of  originality,  wit,  information  and  philosophy 
Indeed,  the  vividness  of  the  book  is  extraordinary.  The  scenes  and  descriptions  are 
absolutely  life-like." — Southern  Literary  Gazette. 

"  The  works  of  the  present  writer  are  the  only  ones  the  spirit  of  whose  rhetoric  doe*, 
justice  to  those  times,  and  in  fascination  of  description  and  style  equal  the  fettetaations 
they  descant  upon." — New  Orleans  Commercial  Bulletin. 

"  The  author  is  a  brilliant  writer,  and  serves  up  his  sketches  in  a  sparkling  manner  " 
Christian  Freeman, 


*, 


ANCIENT  EGYPT  UNDER  THE  PHARAOHS. 
By  John  Kendrick,  M.  A.     In  2  vols.,  12mo,  price  $2.50. 

"  No  work  has  heretofore  appeared  suited  to  the  wants  of  the  historical  student, 
which  combined  the  labors  of  artists,  travellers,  interpreters  and  critics,  during  the 
periods  from  the  earliest  records  of  the  monarchy  to  its  final  absorption  in  the  empiro 
of  Alexander.    This  work  supplies  this  deficiency." — Olive  Branch. 

"  Not  only  the  geography  and  political  history  of  Egypt  under  the  Pharaohs  are 
given,  but  we  are  furnished  with  a  minute  account  of  the  domestic  manners  and  cus- 
toms of  the  inhabitants,  their  language,  laws,  science,  religion,  agriculture,  navigation 
and  commerce." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  These  volumes  present  a  comprehensive  view  of  the  results  of  the  combined  labors 
of  travellers,  artists,  and  scientific  explorers,  which  have  effected  so  much  during  the 
present  century  toward  the  development  of  Egyptian  archaeology  and  history."— Jour- 
nal of  Commerce. 

"  The  descriptions  are  very  vivid  and  one  wanders,  delighted  with  the  author,  through 
the  land  of  Egypt,  gathering  at  every  step,  new  phases  of  her  wondrous  history,  and 
ends  with  a  more  intelligent  knowledge  than  he  ever  before  had,  of  the  land  of  tha 
Pharaohs." — American  Spectator. 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOGNOMY; 
Or  Resemblances  between  Men  and  Animals.    By  J.  W.  Redfield, 
M.  D.       In  one  vol.,   8vo,  with  several  hundred  illustrations, 
price,  $2.00. 

'*  Dr.  Redfield  has  produced  a  very  curious,  amusing,  and  instructive  book,  curious 
in  its  originality  and  illustrations,  amusing  in  the  comparisons  and  analyses,  and  in. 
structive  because  it  contains  very  much  useful  Information  on  a  too  much  neglected 
subject    It  will  be  eagerly  read  and  quickly  appreciated."— National  JEgis. 

"The  whole  work  exhibits  a  good  deal  of  scientific  research,  intelligent  observation, 
and  ingenuity."—  Daily  Union. 

"  Highly  entertaining  even  to  those  who  have  little  time  to  study  the  science."— 
Detroit  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  This  is  a  remarkable  volume  and  will  be  read  by  two  classes,  those  who  study  for 
information,  and  those  who  read  lor  amusement.  For  its  originality  and  entertaining 
character,  we  commend  it  to  our  readers." — Albany  Express. 

"  It  is  overflowing  with  wit,  humor,  and  originality,  and  profusely  illustrated.  Tha 
whole  work  is  distinguished  by  vast  research  and  knowledge." — Knickerbocker. 

"  The  plan  is  a  novel  one ;  the  proofs  ftriking ,  and  must  challenge  the  attention  of  tb« 
curious."— Daih/  Advertiser 


REDKIKLDS    NEW    AND    POPULAR     PUBLICATIONS. 


NOTES  AND  EMENDATIONS  OF  SHAKESPEARE. 

Notes  and  Emendations  to  the  Text  of  Shakespeare's  Plays,  from 
the  Early  Manuscript  Corrections  in  a  copy  of  the  folio  of  J632, 
in  the  possession  of  John  Payne  Collier,  Esq.,  F.S.A.  Third 
edition,  with  a  fac-simile  of  the  Manuscript  Corrections.  1  vol 
12mo,  cloth,  $1   50. 

"It  is  not  for  a  moment  to  bo  doubted,  we  think,  that  in  this  volume  a  contribution 
has  been  made  to  the  clearness  and  accuracy  of  Shakespeare's  text,  by  far  the  most  ini 
portant  of  any  offered  or  attempted  since  Shakespeare  lived  and  wrote." — Lond.  Exam 

"  The  corrections  which  Mr.  Collier  has  here  given  to  the  world  are,  we  venture  to 
think,  of  more  value  than  the  labors  of  nearly  all  the  critics  on  Shakespeare's  text  put 
together." — London  Literary  Gazette. 

"  It  is  a  rare  gem  in  the  history  of  literature^  and  can  not  fail  to  command  the  atten- 
tion of  all  the  amateurs  of  the  writings  of  the  immortal  dramatic  poet." — Ch'ston  Cour. 

"  It  is  a  book  absolutely  indispensable  to  every  admirer  of  Shakespeare  who  wishes 
to  read  him  understanding^." — Louisville  Courier. 

"  It  is  clear  from  internal  evidence,  that  for  the  most  part  they  are  genuine  restora- 
tions of  the  original  plays.     They  carry  conviction  with  them." — Home  Journal. 

"  This  volume  is  an  almost  indispensable  companion  to  any  of  the  editions  of 
Shakespeare,  so  numerous  and  often  important  are  many  of  the  corrections."—  Register, 
Philadelphia. 


qX^ 


THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  CRUSADES. 

By  Joseph  Francois  Michaud.     Translated  by  W.  Robson,  3  vols. 
12mo.,  maps,  $3  75. 

"  It  i9  comprehensive  and  accurate  in  the  detail  of  facts,  methodical  and  lucid  in  ar- 
rangement, with  a  lively  and  flowing  narrative." — Journal  of  Commerce. 

"~We  need  not  say  that  the  work  of  Michaud  has  superseded  all  other  histories 
of  the  Crusades.  This  history  has  long  been  the  standard  work  with  all  who  could 
read  it  in  its  original  language.  Another  work  on  the  same  subject  is  as  improbable 
as  a  new  history  of  the  'Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire.'  " — Salem  Freeman. 

"  The  most  faithful  and  masterly  history  ever  written  of  the  wild  wars  for  the  Holy 
Land." — Philadelphia  American  Courier. 

"The  ability,  diligence,  and  faithfulness,  with  which  Michaud  has  executed  his 
great  task,  are  undisputed  ;  and  it  is  to  his  well-filled  volumes  that  the  historical  stu- 
dent must  now  resort  for  copious  and  authentic  facts,  and  luminous  views  respecting 
this  most  romantic  and  wonderful  period  in  the  annals  of  the  Old  World."— Boston 
Daily  Courier. 


IS1* 


MARMADUKE  WYVIL. 

An  Historical  Romance  of  1651,  by  Henry  W.  Herbert,  author 
of  the  "  Cavaliers  of  England,"  &c,  &c.  Fourteenth  Edition. 
Revised  and  Corrected. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  best  works  of  the  kind  we  have  ever  read— full  of  thrilling  inci- 
dents and  adventures  in  the  stirring  times  of  Cromwell,  and  in  that  style  which  has 
mad»>  the  works  of  Mr.  Herbert  so  popular."— Christian  Freeman,  Boston. 

"The  work  is  distinguished  by  the  same  historical  knowledge,  thrilling  incident,  and 
pictorial  beauty  of  style,  which  have  characterized  all  Mr.  Herbert's  fictions  and  imparted 
to  them  such  a  bewitching  interest." — Yankee  Blade. 

"  The  author  out  of  a  simple  plot  and  very  few  characters,  has  constructed  a  novel 
of  deep  interest  and  of  considerable  historical  value.  It  will  be  found  well  wortk 
reading  "--National  Pj.git,  Worcester. 


redfield's  new  and  popular  publications. 

MACAULAY'S  SPEECHES. 

Speeches  by  the  Right  Hon.  T.  B.  Macaulat,  M.  P.,  Author  of 
M  The  History  of  England,"  "  Lays  of  Ancient  Rome,"  &c,  &e. 
Two  vols.,  12mo,  price  $2.00. 

"  It  is  hard  to  eay  whether  his  poetry,  his  speeches  in  parliament,  or  his  brilliant 
essays,  are  the  most  charming;  each  has  raised  him  to  very  great  eminence,  and  would 
be  sufficient  to  constitute  the  reputation  of  any  ordinary  man." — Sir  Archibald  Alison. 

"  It  may  be  said  that  Great  Britain  has  produced  no  statesman  since  Burke,  who  has 
united  in  so  eminent  a  degree  as  Macaulay  the  lofty  and  cultivated  genius,  the  eloquent 
orator,  and  the  sagacious  and  far-reaching  politician." — Albany  Argus. 

"  We  do  not  know  of  any  living  English  orator,  whose  eloquence  comes  so  near  the 
ancient  ideal — close,  rapid,  powerful,  practical  reasoning,  animated  by  an  intense  earn- 
estness of  feeling."—  Courier  <V  Enquirer. 

"  Mr.  Macaulay  has  lately  acquired  as  great  a  reputation  as  an  orator,  as  he  had  for- 
merly won  as  an  essayist  and  historian.  He  takes  in  his  speeches  the  same  wide  and 
comprehensive  grasp  of  his  subject  that  he  does  in  his  essays,  and  treats  it  in  the  same 
elegant  style." — Philadelphia  Evening  Bulletin. 

*'  The  same  elaborate  finish,  sparkling  antithesis,  full  sweep  and  copious  flow  of 
thought,  and  transparency  of  style,  which  made  his  essays  so  attractive,  are  found  in 
his  speeches.  They  are  so  perspicuous,  so  brilliantly  studded  with  ornament  and  illus- 
tration, and  so  resistless  in  their  current,  that  they  appear  at  the  time  to  be  the  wisest 
and  greatest  of  human  compositions," — NowYork  Evangelist. 


t*. 


TRENCH  ON  PROVERBS. 

On  the  Lessons  in  Proverbs,  by  Richard  Chenevix  Trench,  B.  D., 

Professor  of  Divinity  in  King's  College,  London,  Author  of  the 
44  Study  of  Words."     12mo,  cloth,  50  cents. 

"Another  charming  book  by  the  author  of  the  "  Study  of  Words,"  on  a  subject  which 
is  so  ingeniously  treated,  that  we  wonder  no  one  has  treated  it  before." — Yankee  Blade. 

«'  It  is  a  book  at  once  profoundly  instructive,  and  at  the  same  time  deprived  of  all 
approach  to  dryness,  by  the  charming  manner  in  which  the  subject  is  treated."— Ar- 
thur's Home  Gazette. 

"  It  is  a  wide  field,  and  one  which  the  author  has  well  cultivated,  adding  not  only  to 
his  own  reputation,  but  a  valuable  work  to  our  literature."— Albany  Evening  Transcript. 

"  The  work  shows  an  acute  perception,  a  genial  appreciation  of  wit,  and  great  re- 
search. It  is  a  very  rare  and  agreeable  production,  which  may  be  read  with  profit  and 
delight."— New  York  Evangelist. 

"  The  stylo  of  the  author  is  terse  and  vigorous — almost  a  model  In  Its  kind."— Port 
land  Eclectic 


f 


THE  LION  SKIN 

And  the  Lover  Hunt ;  by  Charles  de  Bernard.     12mo,  $1.00. 

"  It  is  not  often  the  novel-reader  can  find  on  his  bookseller's  shelf  a  publication  so  full 
of  incidents  and  good  humor,  and  at  the  same  time  so  provocative  of  honest  thought." 
-  -National  (Worcester,  Mass.)  Mgis. 

"  It  is  full  of  incidents  ;  and  the  reader  becomes  so  interested  in  the  principal  person- 
ages in  the  work,  that  he  is  unwilling  to  lay  the  book  down  until  he  has  learned  their 
whole  history." — Boston  Olive  Branch. 

*'  It  is  refreshing  to  meet  occasionally  with  a  well-published  story  which  Is  written  for 
a  story,  and  for  nothing  else— which  is  not  tipped  with  the  snapper  of  a  moral,  or 
loaded  in  the  handle  with  a  pound  of  philanthropy,  or  an  equal  quantity  of  leader  phi 
losophy."— Springfield  Republican. 


KKDMELDS    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUBLICATIONS. 

MOORE'S  LIFE  OF  SHERIDAN. 
Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  the  Rt.  Hon.  Richard  Brinsley  Sheridan, 
by  Thomas   Moore,  with  Portrait  after  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds. 
Two  vols.,  12mo,  cloth,  $2.00. 

"  One  of  the  most  brilliant  biographies  in  English  literature.  It  is  the  life  of  a  wit 
written  by  a  wit.  and  few  of  Tom  Moore's  most  sparkling  poems  are  more  brilliant  and 
'■scinating  than  this  biography." — Boston  Transcript, 

"  This  is  at  once  a  most  valuable  biography  of  the  most  celebrated  wit  of  the  time*, 
nd  one  of  the  most  entertaining  works  ol  its  gifted  author." — Springfield  Republican. 

"The  Life  of  Sheridan,  the  wit,  contains  as  much  food  for  serious  thought  as  the 
best  sermon  that  was  ever  penned." — Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  The  sketch  of  such  a  character  and  career  as  Sheridan's  by  sue  \and  as  Moore's, 
can  never  cease  to  be  attractive." — N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  The  work  is  instructive  and  full  of  interest." — Christian  Intelligencer. 

"  It  is  a  gem  of  biography ;  full  of  incident,  elegantly  written,  warmly  appreciative, 
and  on  the  whole  candid  and  just.  Sheridan  was  a  rare  and  wonderful  genius,  alfd  has 
in  this  work  justice  done  to  his  surpassing  merits."—  N.  Y.  Evangelist. 


ff?h 


BARRINGTONS  SKETCHES. 

Personal  Sketches  of  his  own  Time,  by  Sir  Jonah  Barrij<gton, 
Judge  if  the  High  Court  of  Admiralty  in  Ireland,  with  Illustra- 
tions by  Darley.     Third  Edition,  12mo,  cloth,  $1  25. 

"  A  more  entertaining  book  than  this 5"  not  often  thrown  in  our  way.  His  sketches 
of  character  are  inimitable  ;  and  many  of  the  prominent  men  of  his  time  are  hit  ofl'ia 
the  most  striking  and  graceful  outline." — Albany  Argus. 

"  He  was  a  very  shrewd  observer  and  eccentric  writer,  and  his  narrative  of  his  owii 
life,  and  sketches  of  society  in  Ireland  during  his  times,  are  exceedingly  humorous  and 
interesting." — N.  Y.  Commercial  Advertiser. 

"  It  is  one  of  those  works  which  are  conceived  and  written  in  so  hearty  a  view,  and 
brings  before  the  reader  so  many  palpable  and  amusing  characters,  that  the  entertain 
ment  and  information  are  equally  balanced."—  Boston  Transcript. 

"  This  is  one  of  the  most  entertaining  books  of  the  season."— N.  Y.  Recorder. 

"  It  portrays  in  life-like  colors  the  characters  and  daily  habits  of  nearly  all  the  Eng 
lish  and  Irish  celebrities  of  that  period."—  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer, 


JOMINrS  CAMPAIGN  OF  WATERLOO. 

The  Political  and  Military  History  of  the  Campaign  of  Waterloo 
from  the  French  of  Gen.  Baron  Jomini,  by  Lieut.  S  V.  Benet 
U.  S.  Ordnance,  with  a  Map,  12mo,  cloth,  75  cents. 

"  Of  great  value,  both  for  its  historical  merit  and  its  acknowledged  impartiality."— 
Christian  Freeman,  Boston. 

-  It  has  long  been  regarded  in  Europe  88  a  work  of  more  than  ordinary  merit,  while 
to  military  men  his  review  of  the  tactics  and  manoeuvres  of  the  French  Emperor  dur- 
ing the  few  days  which  preceded  his  final  and  most  disastrous  defeat,  is  considered  as 
instructive,  as  it  is  interesting."—  Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  It  is  a  standard  authority  and  illustrates  a  subject  of  permanent  interest.  Witt* 
military  students,  and  historical  inquirers,  it  will  be  a  favorite  reference,  and  for  th„ 
general  reader  it  possesses  great  value  and  interest." — Boston  Transcript. 

•  It  throws  much  light  on  often  mooted  points  respecting  Napoleon's  military  and 
political  genius.     The  translation  is  one  of  much  vigor."—  Boston  Commonwealth. 

"It  supplies  an  important  chapter  in  the  most  interesting  and  eventful  period  of  N» 
poleon's  military  career." — Savaiinah  Daily  News. 

•It  U  ably  written  and  skilfully  translated."—  Yanket  Blade. 


redfikld's  new  and  popular  publications. 


LIFE  IN  THE  MISSION. 

Life  in  the  Mission,  the  Camp,  and  the  Zenana.     By  Mrs.  Colin 
Mackenzie.     2  vols.,  12mo.     Cloth.     $2  00. 

"It  is  enlivened  with  countless  pleasant  anecdotes,  and  altogether  is  one  of  the  most 
entertaining  and  valuable  works  of  the  kind  that  we  have  met  with  for  many  a  day."— 
Boston  Traveller. 

"  A  more  charming  production  has  not  issued  from  the  press  for  years,  than  this  jour- 
nal of  Mrs.  Mackenzie." — Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  She  also  gives  us  a  clearer  insight  into  the  manners,  position,  climate,  and  way  of 
life  in  general,  in  that  distant  land,  than  we  have  been  able  to  obtain  from  any  other 
work." — Christian  Herald. 

"  Her  observations  illustrative  of  the  religious  state  of  things,  and  of  the  progress  of 
Missions  in  the  East,  will  be  found  specially  valuable.  It  is  on  the  whole  a  fascinating 
work,  and  withal  is  fitted  to  do  good." — Puritan  Recorder. 

"  She  was  familiarly  acquainted  with  some  of  the  excellent  laborers  sent  out  by  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  of  whom  she  6peaks  in  the  most  favorable 
terms.    The  work  is  instructive  and  very  readable." — Presbyterian. 


fK 


WESTERN  CHARACTERS. 

Western  Characters ;  being  Types  of  Border  X.ife  in  the  Western 
States.  By  J.  L.  M'Connel.  Author  of '-Talbot  and  Vernon," 
"The  Glenns,"  &c,  &c.  With  Six  Illustrations  by  Darley. 
12mo.     Cloth.     $1  25. 

"  Ten  different  classes  are  sketched  in  this  admirable  book,  and  written  by  the  hand 
of  a  master.  The  author  is  an  expert  limner,  and  makes  his  portraits  striking." — Buf. 
falo  Express. 

"  Never  has  Darley's  pencil  been  more  effectively  used.  The  writer  and  sketcher 
have  made  a  unique  and  most  attractive  American  book." — Boston  Transcript. 

"  When  we  say  that  the  book  before  us  is  calm  in  style  as  it  is  forcible  in  matter,  we 
have  indicated  a  sufficiency  of  good  qualities  to  secure  the  attention  of  the  reader,  who 
would  extend  his  sympathies  and  secure  himself  a  due  degree  of  amusement,  without 
— what  is  not  uncommon  in  books  with  similar  titles — a  shock  to  his  taste,  or  insult  to 
his  judgment.  There  is  nothing  equal  to  them  in  the  book  illustrations  of  the  day.  A 
special  paragraph  should  be  given  to  the  illustrations  by  Darley." — Literary  World. 


-m 


A  THANKSGIVING  S TOR  Y. 

Chanticleer:  A  Story  of  the  Peabody  Family.  By  Cornelius 
Mathews.  With  Illustrations  by  Darley,  Walcutt,  and  Dallas. 
12mo.     75  cents. 

"Its  success  is  already  a  fixed  fact  in  our  literature.  'Chanticleer'  is  one  of  those 
simple  and  interesting  tales  which,  like  the  '  Vicar  of  Wakefield'  and  Zchokke's  •  Poor 
Pastor,'  win  their  way  to  the  reader's  heart  and  dwell  there.  It  is  full  of  sunshine:  a 
hearty  and  a  genial  book." — New  York  Daily  Times. 

"  '  Chanticleer'  is  scarcely  inferior  In  a  literary  point  of  view  to  any  of  the  Christmas 
stories  of  Charles  Dickens,  and  is  more  Interesting  to  Americans  because  of  its  allusions 
to  the  peculiar  customs  of  this  country." — N.  Y.  Com.  Advertiser. 

'*'  Chanticleer'  has  won  the  public  heart,  both  by  the  felicity  of  its  subject,  and  the 
grace,  wit,  and  goodness,  displayed  in  its  execution." — Southern  Literary  Gazette. 

"It  possesses  literary  merit  of  the  highest  order,  and  will  live  in  the  affections  of  all 
readers  of  good  taste  and  good  morals,  not  only  while  Thanksgiving  dinners  are  rem*  m 
bered,  but  while  genius  is  appreciated."— Morning  News,  Savannah. 


REDFIELDS    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUBLICATIONS. 


THE  BLACKWATER  CHRONICLE  ; 
A  Narrative  of  an  Expedition  into  the  Land  of  Canaan,  in  Ran- 
dolph County,  Virginia,  a  Country  flowing  with  Wild  Animals, 
such  as  Panthers,  Bears,  Wolves,  Elk,  Deer,  Otter,  Badger,  &c, 
&c,  with  innumerable  Trout,  by  Five  Adventurous  Gentlemen, 
without  any  Aid  of  Government,  and  solely  by  their  Own  Re- 
sources, in  the  Summer  of  1851.  By  "  The  Clerke  of  Oxen- 
forde."     With  Illustrations  from  Life,  by  Strother. 

"This  is  a  handsomely-printed  and  beautifully-illustrated  volume.  Those  who  havo 
a  taste  for  field  sports  will  be  delighted  with  this  cleverly-written  narrative  of  the 
achievements  and  experiences  of  a  hunting  party  in  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  Old 
Dominion." — Savannah  Daily  News. 

"  A  queer,  quaint,  amusingly-written  book,  brimful  of  drollery  and  dare-devil  humor. 
The  work  overflows  with  amusement,  and  has  a  vignette-title  and  other  beautiful  illus 
trations,  by  Strother." — Yankee  Blade. 

*'  A  pleasant  book  of  American  character  and  adventure,  of  interest  geographically, 
sportively,  and  poetically.  The  authorship  is  of  a  good  intellectual  race  ;  the  "  Clerko 
of  Oxenforde,"  who  figures  in  the  title-page,  being  own  brother  to  the  author  of  "  Swal- 
low Barn,"  which,  as  everybody  knows,  is  the  "  Sketch-Book"  of  that  land  of  gentlemen 
and  humorists."— Literary  World.    x 


Q^ 


MINNESOTA  AND  ITS  RESOURCES ; 

are  Appended  Camp-Fire  Sketches,  or  Notes  of  a  Trip 
.  Paul  to  Pembina  and  Selkirk  Settlements  on  the  Red 
of  the  North.  By  J.  Wesley  Bomd.  With  a  New- 
Map  of  the  Territory,  a  View  of  St.  Paul,  and  One  of  the  Falls 
of  St.  Anthony.     In  One  Volume,  12mo.     Cloth.     $1  00. 

'•  To  the  immigrant  to  the  northwest,  and  to  the  tourist  in  search  of  pleasure  it  is  wor- 
thy of  being  commended  for  the  valuable  and  interesting  knowledge  it  contains." — Chi- 
cago Daily  Tribune. 

"  The  work  will  surprise  many,  as  it  opens  to  us  a  new  land,  shows  its  vast  resources, 
and  treats  its  history  with  all  the  accuracy  that  could  be  acquired  by  diligent  research 
and  careful  observation,  during  a  three  years'  residence." — Boston  Gazette. 

'•  It  contains  notices  of  the  early  history  of  the  country,  of  its  geographical  features,  its 
agricultural  advantages,  its  manufactures,  commerce,  facilities  for  travelling,  the  charac- 
ter of  its  inhabitants — everything,  indeed,  to  illustrate  its  resources  and  its  prospects.'* 
— Puritan  Recorder. 

"  We  have  seen  no  work  respecting  the  northwest  of  equal  value  to  this." — Christian 
Intelligencer. 


*& 


THE  YEMASSEE. 
A   Romance  of  South  Carolina.     By  William  Gilmore  Simms. 
Author  of   "The   Partisan,"   "Guy  Rivers,"   &c,    &c.     New 
and  Revised  Edition.      With   Illustrations  by  Darley.      12mo. 
Cloth.     $1  25. 

"  A  picture  of  the  early  border  life  of  the  Huguenot  settlers  In  South  Carolina.  Like 
Scott's  novels,  it  is  a  mixture  of  history  and  romance." — Hartford  Christian  Secretary. 

"It  is  written  in  an  uncommonly  glowing  .style,  and  hits  off  the  Indian  character  with 
uncommon  grace  and  power." — Albany  Argus. 

"  The  whole  work  is  truly  American,  much  of  the  material  being  of  that  character 
which  can  be  furnished  by  no  other  country." — Daily  Times. 

"The  delineations  of  the  red  men  of  the  south  are  admirably  sketched  while  the  his- 
torical events  upon  which  the  work  is  founded  are  vouched  for  by  the  author  as  strictly 
true." — Ntw  Bedford  Mercury. 


redfield's  new  and  popular  publications 

ART  AND  INDUSTRY, 

As  Represented  in  the  Exhibition  at  the  Crystal  Palace,  New  York. 
Showing  the  Progress  and  State  of  the  Various  Useful  and  Es- 
thetic Pursuits.  From  the  New  York  Tribune.  Revised  and 
Edited  by  Horace  Greeley.  12mo.,  Cloth,  Fine  Paper, 
$1  00.     Paper  Covers,  50  Cents. 

"  The  articles  comprised  in  this  work  are  thirty-six  in  number,  on  various  subjects  ; 
they  are  elaborately  and  vigorously  written,  and  contain  much  desirable  information." 
— Savannah  Republican. 

"  It  will  be  read  extensively  and  with  interest  by  all  who  are  engaged  in  any  depart- 
ment of  the  useful  or  graceful  arts." — Lowell  Journal  and  Courier. 

•'  Everybody  interested  in  the  state  of  American  art  or  industry  should  have  a  copy." 
—Register,  Phila. 

"  Evidently  written  with  a  great  deal  of  care,  and  presents  in  a  small  compass  a  very 
large  amount  of  information,  in  relation  to  the  latest  improvements  in  science  and  art." 
— Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  In  each  department  of  industry  there  is  a  rapid  view  of  the  history  of  the  art  or 
arts  involved  in  its  production,  so  that  the  work  is  much  more  than  a  mere  descriptive 
account  of  the  contents  of  the  Crystal  Palace.  It  deserves  to  be  studied  for  the  informa- 
tion it  contains,  and  to  be  preserved  as  a  book  of  reference."— Puritan  Recorder,  Boston. 

"  Especially  to  the  mechanic  and  the  manufacturer,  this  book  will  prove  highly  ac- 
ceptable."—  Christian  Secretary,  Hartford. 


@P& 


A  MONTH  IN  ENGLAND, 

By  Henry  T.  Tuckermjvn.     Author  of  "  Sicily,  a  Pilgrimage," 
"The  Optimist."  &c.     ]2mo.,  Cloth.     75  Cents, 

"  Commend  us  to  this,  for  the  pleasantest  book  on  England  we  ever  read,  always  ex- 
eepting  Macaulay's  history." — Springfield  Evening  Post. 

"His  sketches  are  complete  pictures  ot  the  history  and  life  of  English  literature  ;  con- 
densed yet  full,  chaste  yet  glowing  with  beauty." — N.  Y.  Independent. 

"  This  is  really  a  delightful  book.  The  author  is  well  known  as  an  original  and  vigor-  ■ 
ous  writer  and  keen  observer." — Christian  Freeman. 

"  A  lively,  racy  volume  of  travels,  in  which  the  author  gives  us  his  impressions  of  the 
ca?tles,  books,  artists,  authors,  and  other  et  cetera  which  came  in  his  way." — Zion's 
Herald. 

"  Mr.  Tuckerman  is  one  of  the  purest  and  most  elegant  writers  that  adorn  American 
literature." — Knickerbocker,  Albany. 


ft* 


VASCONSELOS. 
A  Romance  of  the  New  World.     By  Frank  Cooper.     12mo., 

Cloth.     $1  25. 

"The  scenes  are  laid  in  Spain  and  the  New  World,  and  the  skill  with  which  the  pomp 
and  circumstance  of  chivalry  are  presented,  make  Vasconselos  one  of  the  most  inter- 
esting works  of  American  fiction." — N.  Y.  Evening  Post. 

"  It  is  well  written,  full  of  spirit,  interesting  historical  facts,  beautiful  local  descrip- 
tions, and  well-sustained  characters.  Cuban  associations  abound  in  it,  and  there  is  a  fine 
southern  glow  over  the  whole." — Boston  Transcript. 

"  It  is  freely  written,  full  of  sparkle  and  freshness,  and  must  interest  any  one  whoso 
appreciation  is  at  all  vigorous." — Buffalo  Express. 

"The  story  is  an  interesting  one,  while  the  style  is  most  refreshingly  good  for  these 
day*  of  easy  writing.'- — Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"Thin  is  an  American  romance,  and  to  such  as  are  fond  of  this  order  of  literature  it 
will  be  found  intensely  interesting."— Hartford  Christian  Secretary. 


REDFIELD'S    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUBLICATIONS. 

A  STRAY  YANKEE  IN  TEXAS. 

A  Stray  Yankee  in  Texas.     By  Philip  Paxton.     With  Illustra. 
tions  by  Darley.     Second  Edition,  12mo.,  cloth.     $1  25. 

"  The  work  is  a  chef  d'muvre  in  a  style  of  literature  in  which  our  country  has  nc 
rival,  and  we  commend  it  to  all  who  are  afflicted  with  the  blues  or  ennui,  as  an  effec- 
tual means  of  tickling  their  diaphragms,  and  giving  their  cheeks  a  holyday." — Boston 
Yankee  Blade. 

"  We  find,  on  a  perusal  of  it,  that  Mr.  Paxton  has  not  only  produced  a  readable,  bul 
a  valuable  book,  as  regards  reliable  information  on  Texan  affairs.— Hartford  Christian 
Secretary. 

"  The  book  is  strange,  wild,  humorous,  and  yet  truthful.  It  will  be  found  admirably 
descriptive  of  a  state  of  society  which  is  fast  losing  its  distinctive  peculiarities  in  the 
rapid  increase  of  population." — Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  One  of  the  richest,  most  entertaining,  and,  at  the  same  time,  instructive  works  one 
could  well  desire."—  Syracuse  Daily  Journal. 

"  The  book  is  a  perfect  picture  of  western  manners  and  Texan  adventures,  and  will 
occasion  many  a  hearty  laugh  in  the  reader." — Albany  Daily  State  Register. 


* 


NICK  OFi  THE  WOODS. 

Nick  of  the  Woods,  or  the  Jibbenainosay  ;  a  Tale  of  Kentucky.  By 
Robert  M.  Bird,  M.  D.,  Author  of  "Calavar,"  "The  Infidel," 
&c.  New  and  Revised  Edition,  with  Illustrations  by  Darley.  1 
volume,  12mo.,  cloth,  $1  25. 

"  One  of  those  singular  tales  which  impress  themselves  in  ineradicable  character! 
upon  the  memory  of  every  imaginative  reader." — Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

u  Notwithstanding  it  takes  the  form  of  a  novel,  it  is  understood  to  be  substantial  truth 
in  the  dress  of  fiction  ;  and  nothing  is  related  but  which  has  its  prototype  in  actual 
reality." — Albany  Argue. 

•'  It  is  a  tal*  of  frontier  life  and  Tndian  warfare,  written  by  a  masterly  pen,  with  its 
■cenes  so  graphically  depicted  that  they  amount  to  a  well-executed  painting,  at  once 
striking  and  thrilling."— Buffalo  Express. 


* 


WHITE,  RED,  AND  BLACK. 

Sketches  of  American  Society,  during  the  Visits  of  their  Guests,  by 
Francis  and  Theresa  Pulszkt.      Two  vols.,  12mo.,  cloth,  $2. 

•'  Mr.  Pulezky  and  his  accomplished  wife  have  produced  an  eminently  candid  and 
judicious  book,  which  will  be  read  with  pleasure  and  profit  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlan- 
tic."— Ntv>  York  Daily  Times. 

"  The  authors  have  here  furnished  a  narrative  of  decided  interest  and  value.  They 
have  given  U9  a  view  of  the  Hungarian  war,  a  description  of  the  Hungarian  passage  tc 
this  country,  and  a  sketch  of  Hungarian  travels  over  the  country."— Philad.  Christian 
Chronicle. 

"Of  all  the  recent  books  on  America  by  foreign  travellers,  this  is  at  once  the  most 
fair  and  the  most  correct."—  Philad.  ^Saturday  Gazette. 

"  Unlike  most  foreign  tourists  in  the  United  States,  they  speak  of  our  institutions, 
manners,  customs,  &c.,  with  marked  candor,  and  at  the  same  time  evince  a  pretty  thor 
ough  knowledge  of  our  history." — Hartford  Christian  Secretary. 

"  This  is  a  valuable  book,  when  we  consider  the  amount  and  variety  of  the  informa 
tion  it  contains,  and  when  we  estimate  the  accuracy  with  which  the  facts  aro  detailed. 
—  Worcester  Spy 


KKDFIKLD'S    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUHLICAT10N8. 

NAPOLEON  IN  EXILE  ; 

Or,  a  Voice  from  St.  Helena.  Being  the  opinions  and  reflections  of 
Napoleon,  on  the  most  important  events  in  his  Life  and  Govern- 
ment, in  his  own  words.  By  Barry  E.  O'Meara,  his  late  Sur- 
geon, with  a  Portrait  of  Napoleon,  after  the  celebrated  picture  of 
Delaroche,  and  a  view  of  St.  Helena,  both  beautifully  engraved 
on  steel.     2  vols.  12mo,  cloth,  $2. 

"  Nothing  can  exceed  the  graphic  truthfulness  with  which  these  volumes  record  the 
words  and  habits  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena,  and  its  pages  are  endowed  with  a  charm 
far  transcending  that  of  romance."— Albany  State  Register. 

"  Every  one  who  desires  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  character  of  Napoleon, 
should  possess  himseif  of  this  book  of  O'Meara's."— Arthur's  Home  Gazette. 

"  It  is  something  indeed  to  know  Napoleon's  opinion  of  the  men  and  events  of  the 
thirty  years  preceding  his  fall,  and  his  comments  throw  more  light  upon  history  than 
anything  we  have  read."— Albany  Excess. 

-  The  two  volumes  before  us  are  worthy  supplements  to  any  history  of  France."— 
/   ilon  Evening  Gazette. 


f 


MEAGHERS  SPEECHES. 

Speeches  on  the  Legislative  Independence  of  Ireland,  with  Intro- 
ductory Notes.  By  Francis  Thomas  Meagher.  1  vol.  12mo, 
Cloth.     Portrait.     $1, 

"  The  volume  before  us  embodies  some  of  the  noblest  specimens  of  Irish  eloquence  ; 
not  florid,  bombastic,  nor  acrimonious,  but  direct  manly,  and  convincing." — New  York 
Tribune. 

"  There  is  a  glowing,  a  burning  eloquence,  in  these  speeches,  which  prove  the  author 
a  man  of  extraordinary  intellect." — Boston  Olive  Branch. 

"  As  a  brilliant  and  effective  orator,  Meagher  stands  unrivalled." — Portland  Eclectic 

"  All  desiring  to  obtain  a  good  idea  of  the  political  history  of  Ireland  and  the  move- 
ments of  her  people,  will  be  greatly  assisted  by  reading  these  speeches." — Syracust 
Daily  Star. 

"It  is  copiously  illustrated  by  explanatory  notes,  so  that  the  reader  will  have  no  diffi- 
culty in  understanding  the  exact  state  of  affairs  when  each  speech  was  delivered." — 
Bos.on  Traveller. 


jftfc 


THE  PRETTY  PLATE, 

A.  new  and  beautiful  juvenile.     By  John  Vincent.     Illustrated  by 
Darlet.    1  vol.  16mo,  Cloth,  gilt,  63  cts.    Extra  gilt  edges,  88  cts. 

"We  venture  to  say  that  no  reader,  great  or  small,  who  takes  up  this  book,  will  lay  it 
down  unfinished." — Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  This  is  an  elegant  little  volume  for  a  juvenile  gift-book.  The  story  is  one  of  ppculiai 
Instruction  and  interest  to  the  young,  and  is  illustrated  with  beautiful  engravings."— 
Boston,  Christian  Freeman. 

"  One  of  the  very  best  told  and  sweetest  juvenile  stories  that  has  been  issued  from  tha 
press  this  season.     It  has  a  most  excellent  moral."—  Detroit  Daily  Advertucr. 

"  A  nice  little  book  for  a  holyday  present.  Our  little  girl  has  read  it  through,  and  pro- 
nounces it  first  rate."— Hartford  Christian  Secretary. 

•'  It  is  a  pleasant  child's  book,  well  told,  handsomely  published,  and  illustrated  is 
Darley's  best  style."— Albany  Express. 


REDFIELD'S    NEW    AND    P0PU11R    PUBLICATION. 


CLOVERNOOK; 


Or,  Recollections  of  our  Neighborhood  in  the  West.  By  Alick 
Carf*$.  Illustrated  by  Darley.  One  vol.,  12mo.,  price  $1.00. 
(Fourth  edition.) 


"  In  this  volume  there  is  a  freshness  which  perpetually  charms  the  reader.    You  seem 

be  made  free  of  western  homes  at  once." — Old  Colony  Memorial. 

"  They  bear  the  true  stamp  of  genius— simple,  natural,  truthful — and  evince  a  keen 


*Z1£?  *ho  '■•"'  ■■  n"<*  rnthns.  of  the  comedy  and  tragedy,  of  life  in  the  country."— J 


** 


DKEAM-&4N]?  BY  V AY-LIGHT; 

A  Panorama  of  Romance.     By  Caroline  Chesebho'.     Illustrated 
by  Darlet.     fW.  vnl  ,  iom<>,  r«*.  «x.o«.     <o^uua  edition.) 

"  These  simple  and  beautiful  stories  are  all  highly  endued  with  an  exquisite  percep- 
tion of  natural  beauty,  with  which  is  combined  an  appreciative  sense  of  its  relation  to 
the  highest  moral  emotions."— Albany  State  Register. 

"  Gladly  do  we  greet  this  floweret  in  the  field  of  our  literature,  for  it  is  fragrant  with 
sweet  and  bright  with  hues  that  mark  it  to  be  of  Heaven's  own  planting." — Courier  and 
Enquirer. 

"  There  is  a  depth  of  sentiment  and  feeling  not  ordinarily  met  with,  and  some  of  the 
noblest  faculties  and  affections  of  man's  nature  are  depicted  and  illustrated  by  the  skil- 
ful pen  of  the  authoress."—  Churchman. 


* 


LAYS  OF  THE  SCOTTISH  CAVALIERS. 

By  William  E.  Aytoun,  Professor  of  Literature  and  Belles-Let- 
tres  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh  and  Editor  of  Blackwood'i 
Magazine.     One  vol.,  12mo.  cloth,  price  $1.00. 

"  Since  Lockhart  and  Macaulay's  ballads,  we  have  had  no  metrical  work  to  be  com- 
pared in  spirit,  vigor,  and  rhythm  with  this.  These  ballads  knbcdy  and  embalm  the 
chief  historical  incidents  of  Scottish  history— literally  in  '  thoughts  that  breathe  and 
words  that  burn.*  They  are  full  of  lyric  energy,  graphic  description,  and  genuine  feel 
hog." — Home  Journal. 

"  The  fine  ballad  of '  Montrose*  in  this  collection  Is  alone  worth  the  price  of  the  book.' 
Bosirt  Transcript. 


Q/s&i 


THE  BOOK  OF  BALLADS. 
By  Bon  Gaultier.     One  volume,  12mo.,  cloth,  price  75  cents. 

"Here  is  a  book  for  everybody  who  loves  classic  fun.  It  is  made  up  of  ballads  of 
nil  sorts,  each  a  capital  parody  upon  the  style  of  some  one  of  the  best  lyric  writers  of 
ihe  rime,  from  the  thundering  versification  of  Lockhart  and  Macaulay  to  the  sweetest 
and  simplest  strains  of  Wordsworth  and  Tennyson.  The  author  is  one  of  the  first 
scholars,  and  one  of  the  most  finished  writers  of  the  day,  and  this  production  is  but  the 
frolic  of  his  genius  in  play-time  "—Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"  We  do  not  know  to  whom  belongs  this  nom  de  plume,  but  he  Is  certainly  a  humeri* 
«f  no  common  powrr." — Providence  Journal. 


REDFIELDS    NEW    AND    POPULAR    PUBLICATIONS. 

"  SHAKESPEARE  AS  HE  WROTE  IT." 

THE  WORKS  OF  SHAKESPEARE, 

Reprinted  from  the  newly-discovered  copy  of  the  Folio  of  1632 
in  the  possession  of  J.  Payne  Collier,  containing  nearly 

Twenty  Thousand  Manuscript  Corrections, 

With  a  History  of  the  Stage  to  the   Time,  an  Introduction  tG 
each  Play,  a  Ltfe  of  the  Poet,  etc. 

By  J.  PAYNE  COLLIER,  F.S.A. 

To  which  are  added,  Glossarial  and  other  Notes,  the  Readings  of  Former 
ratitirnii  a.  Portrait  after  that  by  Martin  Droeshout,  a  Vignette  Titlk 
on  Steel,  and  a  Facsimile  of  the  Old  Folio,  with  the  Manuscript  Cor- 
rections.    1  vol,  Imperial  8vo.    Cloth  $4  00. 

The  WORKS  OF  SHAKESPEARE  the  same  as  the  above. 
Uniform  in  Size  with  the  celebrated  Chiswick  Edition,   8  vols. 

16mo,  cloth  $6  00.     Half  calf  or  moroc.  extra 

These  are  American  Copyright  Editions,  the  Notes  being  expressly  prepared 
for  the  work.  The  English  edition  contains  simply  the  text,  without  a  single 
note  or  indication  of  the  changes  made  in  the  text.  In  the  present,  the  vari- 
ations from  old  copies  are  noted  by  reference  of  all  changes  to  former  editions 
(abbreviated  f.  e.),  and  every  indication  and  explanation  is  given  essential  to  a 
clear  understanding  of  the  author.  The  prefatory  matter,  Life,  &c,  will  be  fuller 
than  in  any  American  edition  now  published. 

"This  is  the  only  correct  edition  of  the  works  of  the  'Bard  of  Avon'  ever  issued 
and  no  lover  or  student  of  Shakespeare  should  be  without  it."— Philadelphia  Argus  ' 

"  Altogether  the  most  correct  and  therefore  the  most  valuable  edition  extant "— Alba- 
ny Express. 

"  This  edition  of  Shakespeare  will  ultimately  supersede  all  others.  It  must  certainly 
be  deemed  an  essential  acquisition  by  every  lover  of  the  great  dramatist  "— N  Y  Coni 
mercial  Advertiser.  '     ' 

"This  great  work  commends  itself  in  the  highest  terms  to  every  Shakespearian  schol- 
ar  and  student."— Philadelphia  City  Item. 

"  This  edition  embraces  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  a  copy  of  Shakespeare  desirable 
and  correct." — Niagara  Democrat. 

"  It  must  sooner  or  later  drive  all  others  from  the  market."— N.  Y.  Evening  Post 

"  Beyond  all  question,  the  very  best  edition  of  the  great  bard  hitherto  published."— 
New  England  Religious  Herald.  r 

"  It  must  hereafter  be  the  standard  edition  of  Shakespeare's  plays."— National  Argu$. 

"  It  is  clear  from  internal  evidence  that  they  are  genuine  restorations  of  the  orisri' 
nal  plays."— Detroit  Daily  Times.  b 

"'Phis  must  we  think  supersede  all  other  editions  of  Shakespeare  hitherto  published 
Collier  s  corrections  make  it  really  a  different  work  from  its  predecessors.  Compared 
with  it  we  consider  them  hardly  worth  possessing."— Daily  Georgian,  Savannah 

"  One  who  will  probably  hereafter  be  considered  as  the  only  true  authority.  No  on© 
we  think,  will  wish  to  Purchase  an  edition  of  Shakespeare,  except  it  shall  be  conform- 
able to  the  amended  text  Dy  Collier."— Newark  Daily  Advertiser 

"  A  great  outcry  has  been  made  in  England  against  this  edition  of  the  bard,  by  Sin- 
ger  and  others  interested  in  other  editions ;  but  the  emendations  commend  themselves 
too  strongly  to  the  good  sense  of  every  reader  to  be  dropped  by  the  public— tha  oU 
editions  must  become  obsolete."—  Yankee  Blade,  Boston. 


V&W4£\ 


«»  «fc 


(&£&{u 


